Spyro: The Human Menace
by BestNotes
Summary: There's a legend that tells of creatures that inhabited the world long before the dragons. They were the humans, said to have mysteriously vanished. But what if that legend became a reality?
1. Ends and Beginnings

Author's Note: Hiya people

**Author's Note: Hiya people! I am… as I say, ALIVE! The last fic I tried to write didn't go over well. It was a mix of many things. A busy life, a lack of motivation to write out, and mix that with the fact I hadn't planned out the story enough. But, I've decided to try again only this is something a little different! It's a story mixing a post Legend of Spyro-verse with a ton of OCs. Some of whom, are humans. Why do I have humans in a Legend of Spyro story? That will all become clear as time passes. **

**Please feel free to leave suggestions in reviews… as I am a little rusty in the whole writing department. But I do not tolerate flames at all. So here it goes!**

**Spyro: The Human Menace **

**Chapter 1- Ends and Beginnings**

_"There are many legends that have been handed down through the generations. Some, stories for the purpose of pure amusement. Others, tales of great battles and the heroes among them. Some are tall tales of terrible things and creatures. These are warnings; forever keeping the young at bay and the old on their toes. This legend... it is merely a story. It has been passed down since the beginnings of our time. It is a truly fascinating tale. But it is just that, a tale. For centuries, there have been debates about the idea that this tall tale might be a frightful reality. But it has been proven to be an impossibility._

_Many millenniums ago, before creatures like ourselves roamed the many habitats that make up this world... there lived a species. They were a dominant people, and had evolved to a point high above any and all other creatures on the face of the world. In there billions of years on this planet, they had created a utopia. A world without wars, without chaos... pure peace and tranquility. They had adapted to the changes of the world, creating and upgrading new technologies. Such technologies are unheard of by anyone present today. They were truly a fascinating race. And we know them simply as..._

_...the humans._

_When the humans had entered a golden age of science and research, disaster struck. Their utopia came crashing down. How did it crash, you ask? The answer is unclear. Some say, it was a force from space that crashed into the planet, decimating it until new life was able to regenerate. More liberal creatures say the great ancestors were distraught with the humans for ignoring them and wiped them out with a storm of magic. Whatever the answer, it does not matter. The humans are no more, and we... we dragons, along with other creatures from cheetahs, to apes, to phoenixes, and to the most bizzare creatures like the Death Hounds... yes, it is us who roam these lands today. But, some say the humans are still out there. Where? No one knows. But they say if we truly believe... if we follow in the ways of the ancestors... the humans will return._

_But that is not all that was told… no. This legend, speaks of ruins. The reminiscence of a once great human city lies there. It is said, that beneath the ruins, lays an ancient book. This book tells all the secrets of the humans that once lived in this world. And with this book, is a gem. Its name, well, no one can really say. It is said that this gem, when found, can grant the user incredible amounts of power. And if used in unison with the mysterious book, unimaginable things could happen… _

"…Gee wiz, Mr. Ignitus! That was a really great story!" A young, bright orange dragon jumped up with glee. The large fire guardian had finished reading to a younger group of dragons within the Temple's library. Yes, the Dragon Realms had come a long way since the Dark Master's reign of fear and terror had ended. What's even better was that a large population of dragons were found to have taken refuge in a far off land. And with peace restored, they had come back. And to top all of that off, they managed to rebuild the Dragon Temple after it was desecrated by the forces of the Ape King.

The young dragons all got up and left in a mob of exited chattering. Ignitus sighed, as he placed the book back in the shelf. "Humans... what a funny idea." He chuckled slightly as he left the library.

* * *

"Come on, buddy! It's a beautiful day! The sun is shining, the birds are chirping! There's lots to see... lots to do! We can't just lay around like this!" The small gold ball fluttered around a purple dragon who was fast asleep on the balcony of the Dragon Temple. "Geez, I could've hung out with any dragon here. There are so many of you guys! But NOOO! I decided to stay with the mauve one! Boy, what a mistake that turned out to be!" Sparx whined as he floated in front of the purple dragon's closed eyelids. "Spyro? Hello, anybody home? Come on, it's me! Your best bud, Sparx! Wakey wakey, Spyro! Time to greet the world with that adventurous attitude of yours! HELLO WORLD!"

Spyro yawned, then turned over to face the other way. "Nothing!" Sparx responded, throwing his arms down in defeat. "It's like this with you too often, now!" Sparx sighed. But he was right. Spyro had been sleeping off a large portion of the last few weeks, waking up occasionally if he was hungry or thirsty. Sparx sighed. "Man, it's time like these I wish we were still out adventuring. Walking into the unknown, ready to face down any challenge that overgrown, psycho dragon threw at us!" Sparx punched the air with his fist, as if he was a boxer. Suddenly he turned around. "Oh, and speaking of psycho dragons... HEY, CYNDER!" Sparx yelled. Cynder was a black dragon, whom Spyro had managed to save from the Dark Master's powers. She had a very peculiar marking on her forehead, of which, no one really knew anything about. In addition, there were small metal blades on the tips of her wings in addition to the much large can-opener shaped blade on the end of her tail.

It had been nearly four years now. Four years since Spyro left the swamp he'd grown up in with Sparx to find out more about what he truly was. He had no idea what he'd ended up getting himself into. But in the end, he'd rid the world of one of the most ancient and malevolent evils.

Cynder ran over to Sparx. She panted heavily, and began speaking to him. "Sparx... I need you, and Spyro."

Sparx motioned to the unmoving, purple lump that was Spyro and replied, "Your gonna have to leave us a message, Cynder. Spyro is, how should I say this, 'laying down on the job!'" Cynder glared in response. She stepped back, and opened her mouth, shooting out a tiny jet of black flames. Spyro suddenly bolted upright and yelled.

"OWWWW!" He turned and saw Cynder and Sparx laughing. He turned and gave them both a "you traitor" stare and growled, "What was that for? What did I do to you?" Cynder laughed and shook her head.

"Nothing, we just needed to wake you up. Spyro, we have a problem. One of the older dragons is stirring up some trouble. He keeps boasting about how strong he is and is challenging other dragons to fights."

"Well, that's bad. The last thing we want is for any of them to get hurt." Spyro responded. Cynder nodded in agreement, but then perked up as if she was remembering something.

"Oh! I'd completely forgotten to tell you something else!" She exclaimed. Spyro sighed.

"Well, I'm all ears!" Spyro responded.

"That dragon… I think he's looking for you." She said. "He keeps mentioning a 'purple dragon' whenever he beats one of the other dragons. I'm guessing he wants to fight you." Spyro groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Nothing is ever simple any more… is it?" Spyro got up and stretched his hind legs before he turned to leave the temple. "Might as well go and check this whole situation out. After all, we've got nothing better to do." He sighed and he began to trot out of the temple. Cynder hesitantly followed him.

"Oh boy, this is gonna be good! HEY! Wait up, guys!" Sparx yelled, flying over to his friends. Meanwhile, over on a hillside overlooking the temple, a black, shadowy figure stood. He gazed at the land below him. A puff of smoke could be seen rising from him, then he turned and slowly trotted down the backside of the hill.

* * *

"Ha! You call that fighting! Some skills you got! Get out of here, shorty!" A medium-sized, red dragon yelled. A smaller, yellow dragon ran away from him sobbing loudly. "Heh! This is too easy!" A flare rose up in the dragon's eyes. He was itching for a fight, and he began looking around. All the terrified dragonlings stepped back, their eyes were filled with pure horror. "…Ha! This is pathetic! Isn't there anyone who thinks they can take me on?" There was no reply from the crowd. "I didn't think so! You're all nothing but a bunch of wimps, you here? Cowards! You're never going to make it around here if you can't stand up and fight!"

"…I accept your challenge!" Came a voice from the very back of the crowd. The young dragons parted, revealing one purple dragon, a black dragon, a gold dragonfly. The purple dragon glared at the red one.

"So… the great, legendary Dragon of Prophecy has finally showed his face! Oh, boy! I can't wait till everyone hears about this!" Spyro uttered a low growl at his foe's taunts. "Now just hold still, old Dagon will make it quick and painless!"

"Dagon? What type of a name is that?" Sparx called back in reply. Dagon glared at Sparx, who quickly hit behind Cynder. Dagon lowered his head and prepared to charge. Spyro was caught of guard by his speed and slammed hard in the side. Spyro skidded toward a tree, but managed to stop himself before anything bad could happen. Dagon, meanwhile, was preparing to charge again. This time Spyro was ready, and at the last second, he unleashed a powerful yellow orb of energy from his maw. The Chronicler had taught him this technique… the Electric Orb. The orb struck clean and true, violently electrocuting Dagon and knocking him upward. Spyro quickly leaped into the air after Dagon and smacked him around with his tail, before slamming him into the ground with his sharp horns. Dagon squealed as he collided with the ground in a painful crash that caused all the surrounding dragonlings to wince slightly at the noise. Dagon slowly got back up, panting heavily. "Y-y-you just got lucky." He coughed up a small amount of red, shining blood. The other dragons stepped back, shocked expressions fixed on their faces.

Spyro looked at Dagon with concern. "Dagon! Are you okay!" Spyro ran over to him. "I'm really sorry, Dagon! But you got me really angry when you attacked me like that!" Spyro inspected Dagon. There were a few bruises, but he was okay. "Dagon, let's stop this! We can't keep hurting each other like this. Suddenly, Spyro turned and saw a sadistic grin on his face.

"Really, now? I'm quite enjoying this!" And he unleashed a jet of flames, which collided with Spyro. Spyro screamed in pain as he slowly stumbled backward. Dagon stood laughing, as he prepared to unleash another round of flames on his helpless victim. But his attack was met by a sheet of ice and stopped completely. Spyro stood glaring at Dagon, his underbelly slightly charred from the fire blast. "Wh-what?! That attack would've knocked any other dragon out!" Spyro slowly walked toward Dagon.

"Yeah, well, I'm not any other dragon, Dagon!" Spyro opened his mouth and unleashed a much larger blast of fire at Dagon. Dagon screamed as the fire consumed him. Spyro continued to unload the red flames until Dagon's screams died down. Spyro stopped his attack and saw Dagon collapsed on the ground, unconscious. His red scales were all charred black, and burnt off in some places. Spyro's eyes widened. But the crowd erupted into cheers and surrounded Spyro.

"That was awesome!"

"You're a super fighter, Spyro!"

"Way to bring him down, Spyro!"

Spyro pushed his way out of the crowd and ran over to the fallen delinquent. Cynder and Sparx soon followed him. Spyro stared at Dagon and then put a paw up to his neck. "I… I can feel a pulse." He sighed. Cynder eyed him with concern.

"What happened Spyro? You totally lost it there!" Cynder exclaimed, a worried look on her face.

"I… I can't say. It's just that his taunting… rrrgh." Spyro put a single purple paw up to his head. "We just have to put this behind us." He saw the worried looks on his friends as he continued to try and dull the pain ringing out in his head. "Don't worry! It's just a small headache! It'll go away, honest!" He tried to form a weak smile, but the pain was unbearable. He clamped down on his tongue, digging his sharp teeth further in until he tasted a small amount of blood. But almost as suddenly as the pain came, the ground started shaking. "What the…?" Spyro began.

"It's an… earthquake?! Here? But that's just crazy! I must be dreaming." Cynder exclaimed, as she slowly turned to flee

"Eh heh heh! Boy, I don't know about you two, but I rather ADORE the idea of death by earthquake! We should really just stay out here and continue soaking in these powerful tremors!" Sparx shouted with a sarcastic glee. Suddenly he screamed quite loudly and flew next to Cynder, just barely dodging several large shards of rock from a nearby cliff face. Just as they were turning to leave however, the earthquake stopped. Sparx opened his eyes and looked around. "Talk about strange. Hey Spyro, have their ever been any earthquakes around here?" Spyro gave Sparx an awkward star in response. "I'm serious!" Cynder chuckled at his last statement.

"Sparx is actually serious about something? Now I REALLY think I'm dreaming!" Spyro laughed at her joke, but Sparx gave her a sort of "evil eye" stare.

"This is what I get when I hang around the crazy she-dragon." He responded, rolling his eyes. Cynder immediately stopped laughing and flashed Sparx a menacing glare of her own.

"I thought we agreed to end that." She exclaimed, at which Sparx just shrugged. Spyro looked disapprovingly at both of them and they quickly ended their glaring contest. "But getting back to your question, Sparx…" Cynder began, "we've never had an earthquake here. Right, Spyro?" Spyro nodded.

"It is weird. I mean, it seemed like a beautiful, peaceful day when I was rudely woken up." He answered, pacing around his two friends. "At any rate, we should probably head back to the temple. I'm sure Ignitus will want to know that we're safe." The trio turned to leave, when the sound of coughing stopped them cold in their tracks. They turned to see Dagon back on his feet. He was heavily bruised, but seemed to be doing okay. "Oh, Dagon! I completely forgot about you. We should get you back to the temple so you can rest!" Dagon just laughed at this statement.

"I'm good. And I have to say, I really like you three. You've got a lot more charisma then all of the others." Sparx just folded his arms and rolled his eyes at Dagon's statement.

"We always attract the crazy ones, don't we?" He sighed and continued, "Why can't we ever meet some normal people for once?" Spyro and Cynder both glared at him and he backed away. "Okay, okay! I get it, 'quit it Sparx, before we blast you with some face magic!' Well you don't have to tell me twice!" Sparx turns around and faces the other way. Dagon laughed at Sparx's actions.

"Anyway, I want to show you guys something. I discovered it wandering around that forest the other day." Dagon motions to a line of trees behind him. "It's really cool! You guys HAVE to see it! I'd offered it to a few others, but they all chickened out and said no." Spyro looked at Cynder. She stared at him awkwardly.

"Why are you staring at _me_ like that? Did I suddenly become the decision maker here?" She asked, startled. Spyro shook his head.

"No, I just wanted to hear your opinion, that's all." Spyro responded. "I'm quite interested in seeing it." Cynder walked up closer to Spyro.

"So am I. But do you really think we can trust this guy?" She whispered. Spyro thought for a moment, then turned and whispered back to her.

"I feel kind of sorry for him. So why not just follow him. As I'd said earlier, we don't have anything better to do." Cynder nodded and the two turned to face Dagon. "Sure, we'll come with you Dagon!" Spyro said, grinning. Dagon returned the grin with one of his own.

"Great! Just follow me and we'll be there before you know it!" He turned and trotted off toward the forest, with Spyro and Cynder following. Sparx turned around and slowly floated after them.

"Am I the only one who thinks this can't end well?" He sighed. "How do I let myself get into these messes?" He quickly dashed ahead to catch up with the others.

* * *

"So, how'd you get a name like Dagon?" Sparx asked as the foursome walked through the forest. Dagon turned his head back to face them.

"It's a bit complicated really. The thing is, my parents were killed shortly after I was born. They'd left me with some friends of theirs, and I grew up with their son. But they never paid too much attention to me. I was always alone, and I always felt like there was something missing. I gave myself the name Dagon. I knew that I was a dragon, but since I always thought I was missing something, I decided to remove the 'r' from dragon to symbolize the missing 'hole' in my life. And, well, the name just sort of stuck. And that was that." He sighed and faced forward again.

"That's awful! No wonder you were picking these fights… I guess you just wanted attention, right?" Spyro responded, glaring at Sparx for asking the question in the first place.

"I guess you could say that." He turned around to face them again, only he was smiling this time. "But now that I've met you guys, I feel happier than I've ever felt! Oh, look, there it is!" Dagon rushed ahead and sure enough, they soon made it to the edge of the forest.

"Thank goodness! I was beginning to think we'd _never_ get out of there!" Sparx said while he fidgeted his hands nervously. What they saw stunned them. They had arrived at a ruins site. The ground was littered with white stones and marble that Spyro and Cynder guessed used to be buildings. "Wow, this is one swell hangout you've got! Nothing spells fun more than a creepy ruined city!"

"Wait… Dagon, you don't think this could be the…" Spyro gulped, "…Dragon City from before the Dark Master's time, do you?"

"At first, I thought that. But then I thought it didn't seem possible for the city to extend this far in the direction we went. And that was when I found what I _really_ wanted to show you guys." Dagon motioned to the left of him and Spyro, Cynder and Sparx followed him to the edge of large field on the outskirts of the ruins. They looked down and saw a river way below them. "Pretty neat huh?" Dagon said, grinning. Spyro started at him, confused.

"I don't get it… what are we trying to see here?" Spyro asked. The fact that the river was an odd color wasn't exactly startling to Spyro or Cynder. They'd both encountered several strange lakes and streams in their travels. Although most of them turned out to be poisonous or infested with tons of creepy critters.

"You don't see it? The glow… err aura, I mean?" Spyro tried squinting his eyes and that's when he saw it. The purple river was emanating some sort of bizarre orange glow. There was also something else which caught his attention, and startled him slightly.

"Wait, you said this was a river, am I right?" Dagon nodded. "But, don't rivers normally have currents?" Dagon nodded again. "But this river… it's as smooth and still as a lake!" Spyro exclaimed. Dagon grinned and nodded again.

"That was the other strange thing that made this river so enchanting to me. I really want to know more about it. Maybe it has some sort of magical charm to it or maybe it was important to the people that lived in those ruins." But the foursome was soon distracted when they heard a rustling noise. They wheeled around to see what had happened, when Cynder suddenly toppled over. Even worse, her bladed tail slammed into one of Dagon's wings, tearing the membrane and making him shriek in pain. "What the heck?! What was that for?" He cried, as wiped some of the blood off the wing. Cynder stared at him in horror.

"But… I didn't… I don't even know how I just fell! It felt like… like a blast of air knocked me over!" She responded, clearly scared by what had just happened. But another rustling soon caught their attention. This time, Spyro slammed into Dagon. The latter screamed as he lost his balance and tumbled off the edge of the cliff face. Spyro's face turned pail as he, Sparx, and Cynder looked down just in time to see Dagon collide with the river. The event caused the faint orange glow of the river to suddenly increase, overshadowing the original purple color. Spyro's legs trembled and he fell on his stomach. "Spyro… how could you?" Cynder cried, a small tear rolling down her face.

"No… I couldn't have… could I?" It was at that moment that they heard laughing. They whirled around to see a black and purple figure standing in front of them. What was even creepier was that it looked exactly like Spyro. Only a black mist was rising from the creature's body.

"Boy, I've heard of losing your shadow, but this is ridiculous!" Sparx said, as his eyes darted from Spyro to his doppelganger and back. The doppelganger laughed once again.

"I pity your little friend. If only you silly dragons had a better sense of balance!" Spyro growled at the doppelganger.

"Let me guess… this so called 'blast of air' Cynder and I felt when we hit Dagon was you!" The doppelganger nodded.

"Naturally. I am, after all, a creature born out of the shadows. So it is only fair they allow me to move at unseen speeds." The doppelganger was suddenly standing on Cynder's left, "The name's Phantom. If it's got a brain, a heart, and lives, I can copy it. And I must say I _adore_ this body of yours, kid. Although, you could definitely lose a few pounds if you ask me."

"Told you." Sparx said, folding his arms and turning away from Spyro. Spyro ignored Sparx's comment and dived at Phantom, who quickly dodged the attack.

"You… you're going to pay for what you did to our friend!" Smoke billowed out of his nostrils. Phantom grinned.

"Alright then, kid. Let's see what kind of a fight you can put up. If you're really lucky, I won't beat you up too badly. But I'm not feeling that generous today!" As he said those last words, Phantom was suddenly right in front of Spyro and knocked him back with his tail. Spyro easily bounced back from this his and tried to air dive into Phantom, but Phantom sidestepped the attack and slammed Spyro in the gut with his horns. The attacked knocked the wind right of Spyro, whose eyes widened in pure shock. Phantom took advantage of the opening and charged Spyro once again. But Spyro managed to roll to the side, and tripped Phantom with one of his hind legs. Spyro stood up and readied an Electric Orb in his mouth. When Phantom stood up he fired the attack, but to his surprise, Phantom double jumped over it. Spyro just barely ducked Phantom's horn dive and managed to slam Phantom in the back with his tail. Phantom stood up and chuckled. "That wasn't half bad, kid." He grinned and was suddenly face to face with Spyro once again, "But you're still far out of my league!" Phantom unleashed a stream of black and purple fire from his mouth, scorching Spyro's head and chest. Spyro squealed in pain as Phantom followed up with a powerful slam using his horns and legs. Spyro flew backward into a large boulder. The impact knocked the wind out of him yet again. He stood up, violently coughing. Cynder suddenly jumped in from the sideline.

"Spyro! I'll help you take care of this jerk!" She yelled as she quickly dodged a stream of Phantom's flames, and shot a fireball of her own at him. To Phantom's surprise, the fireball broke apart into several smaller fireballs, one of which managed to hit him. Phantom easily shook off the attack and jumped into the air, preparing to horn dive Cynder. Cynder hunched low, and when Phantom was nearing her, she slammed him on the head with her bladed tail. Phantom grunted as he crashed into the ground next to Spyro, who used his earth flail attack to drive Phantom further into the ground. Phantom slowly stood up and grinned again. In the blink of an eye, he had appeared behind Cynder and quickly scorched her with his fire. Cynder cried in pain as the fire burned a large portion of her back. Spyro tried to Comet Dash into Phantom, but the latter rolled backward, dodging the attack.

"He's too fast. We have to find a way to slow him down… wait, that's it!" Spyro quickly leaped to the side, dodging Phantom's fire yet again. "Cynder, you have to keep him busy! I'm going to try to use one of my old abilities!" Cynder stared at him.

"Are you crazy?! You haven't used that in forever! How are you going to be able to use it again after all this time?!" Spyro shrugged but closed his eyes and began focusing. On the other side of the field, Cynder had managed to hit Phantom with another one of her fireballs, and then followed it up with a stream of her own black fire. Phantom grunted disapprovingly, before attempting to slam into Cynder with his horns. Cynder easily dodged the attack, and it was at that point that Spyro opened his eyes. In an instant, everything seemed to slow down to a snail's pace with the exception of Spyro. He had managed to use Dragon Time after several months without practicing it. He confidently marched up to Phantom, who began slowly turning when Spyro shocked him with his electricity breath. He followed it up with a large stream of fire. Phantom yelled as he collapsed on the ground, smoking from heat of the fire. It was at that point the Dragon Time had worn off.

"D-d-damn, where'd you learn a trick like that, kid? Grrr… you just got lucky, and I just got a bit too careless!" Phantom said, panting heavily. Spyro shook his head.

"You may have copied me, but you underestimated me. You only used fire, whereas I have all four elements at my disposal, as well as a few other techniques. And it was because of those errors that you lost." Phantom frowned.

"Whatever, I accomplished what I wanted to do. So I'm out of here, but know this: I'll be waiting for you. This isn't the last you'll be hearing of me, punk!" And with that, Phantom evaporated into a black mist and vanished. Sparx folded his arms again.

"Oh, great, you've been demoted from kid to punk in just one meeting with the guy! He must really mean business." He exclaimed. Spyro ignored the comment and walked up to the edge of the cliff face. Cynder appeared next to him, frowning.

"He had told us that he was thrilled to meet us… and now he's gone. And… and… it's all… my fault." Spyro growled as he slammed the grown with his paw. Cynder shook her head.

"Don't beat yourself up. You and I both know that it was that scum, Phantom that did it." Spyro sighed.

"Yeah, but does _he_ know that? What if he survived that fall?" Cynder frowned again.

"I doubt it. And more importantly, I doubt continuing to reflect on this is going to do any good. We need to put this behind us and head back to the temple. Ignitus is probably waiting for us." Spyro nodded.

"I guess you're right. Let's go, it's going to get dark soon." The three some turned and walked away. As they left, a long sword slammed into the edge of the cliff face, and the sound of heavy breathing could be heard.

**To be continued…**


	2. To Catch a Thief

Author's Note: Alright, he's chapter 2

**Author's Note: Alright, he's chapter 2. Sorry for the delay, I'm quite a busy person. Also, on a side note, a recent interview regarding the upcoming Spyro game forced me to edit a certain part of chapter 1. Not sure when it will take effect… if it does. Also, Cynder's move set, which will fully pop up in future chapters, is solely based on the four elements named in the interview, as there's no other information to base it off of. **

**Lastly, I got a specific from Mad Guns22 to include one of his OCs, Ash, in this story. I'm not one to turn down requests (I'm too nice of a person), but seeing as the plot was already completed, Ash will not be one of the true main characters. If you have a request, feel free to write, but at this stage I can't make any guarantees. **

**Spyro is copyright Sierra, Ash is copyright Mad Guns22, and all OCs are copyright of myself. Now that this rant is over, enjoy!**

**Chapter 2- To Catch a Thief**

The sun was beginning to disappear behind the mountainside. The creatures of the night were slowly beginning to poke their heads out of their resting places. And a nighttime chill began to settle in the air. Spyro shivered slightly as he wearily dragged himself up the ramp toward the temple balcony. His bruised legs could barely support him and he ended up sprawled on the balcony floor. Cynder and Sparx slowly approached him. Sparx through one of his arms to the side as he said, "Boy, the way this is going, you'd think walking was like some form of torture to you! Of course, this wouldn't happen if that belly of yours wasn't sticking out as far. Maybe it's time to lay off the seconds, buddy!" Spyro glared at Sparx.

"Why don't you try fighting a copy of yourself, and then flying all the way back to the temple? Then you can joke around all you want." Sparx put on a sour face and crossed his arms. Spyro ignored this and slowly walked into the temple's training room. The large statue was in standing proudly in the middle of room, seeing as there was no one training. It was at that moment that familiar voice yelled out.

"Hey! It's about time you guys got back! Where the heck have you all been?" A blue ice dragon came sprinting down the walkway to greet the threesome. He had a darker blue belly and horns, and the tip of his tail was shaped like that of an icicle. He spoke to them again, "We were beginning to think something happened to you guys during that earthquake. Boy was that thing unexpected!" Spyro stared up at the blue dragon with tired eyes. The blue dragon frowned, "You don't look so good, Spyro. We should go to Ignitus. He's right in the other room." The blue dragon led Spyro down the walkway. Cynder and Sparx looked at each other nervously.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Sparx asked.

"That once Ignitus gets a hold of Spyro, Spyro will make like a sea creature and clam up? In that case yes." She replied.

"Oh, well I was just thinking that under the light in here, you didn't look quite as _evil_ as you always did!" Sparx said with a silly grin on his face. Cynder glared at him.

"I'll give you a ten-second head start." She replied. At which point Sparx turned and flew toward the door screaming. Cynder sighed and slowly walked after him. When she arrived in the next room, she saw the large fire guardian, Ignitus, lying next to the Pool of Visions. Next to him was a very large, light blue dragon. It was the ice guardian, Cyril. The blue dragon and Spyro were sitting opposite them. Cynder quietly lay down next to the two of them.

"Thank you very much for finding Spyro and Cynder, Drake…" Ignitus said, at which Sparx cleared his throat. "…And Sparx." Ignitus continued, rolling his eyes in the process.

"It wasn't hard. I found them in the training room, sir." Drake replied, staring down at the glowing water of the small pool.

"As for you, young dragon," Ignitus began, turning to Spyro, "I believe you owe us an explanation as to where you've been today." Cyril nodded as Ignitus spoke.

"Yes, yes, and as to how you acquired those injuries." He exclaimed staring at Spyro's bruised legs and slightly burnt chest. Spyro had been staring down at the ground the whole time, and mumbled something. "Come now, Spyro, speak up! Surely, it can't be that bad." Cyril exclaimed. Suddenly, the doors behind him slammed open, and two dragons ran in. The first was a red male with darker red legs, orange wings and gold horns. The second was a green female with pink wings, horns and a pink stomach. The red dragon looked at the scene in front of him.

"Oh, are we interrupting something? My bad." Ignitus turned around to look at the two dragons.

"Could you perhaps wait a moment, Ash? We are a bit busy at the moment." Ignitus said, frowning at the two.

"But, it's really important!" The greed dragon responded. Ignitus continued to frown at them, at which point the green dragon said, "But I guess we can wait." Ash turned and stared at her wide-eyed.

"Are you kidding? This is _super _important! If we don't tell him…" Cyril cleared his throat, at which point Ash abruptly stopped speaking.

"I believe Ignitus said that we are in the middle of something. Either you shall wait patiently or you shan't speak at all." He coldly exclaimed. "Are we clear?" Ash frowned, but conceded, nodding. "Good, then have a seat." The two turned and walked over to the other young dragons, Ash grumbling to himself in the process. Sparx was able to make out the word "book," but kept silent. "Now then, I believe you two owe us an explanation, hmm?" Cyril continued, turning his attention back to them. Spyro continued to stare down at the ground.

"Spyro, man, _what is wrong with you_? You're staring holes into the ground!" Drake exclaimed.

"None of your business…" he replied coldly. Cynder stared at him with wide eyes. Spyro had never acted that coldly to anyone… well, other that Sparx but he was just joking around with him. Spyro lifted his head up. "Why's everyone staring at me? We weren't doing anything… important." Ignitus got up and began pacing around, observing Spyro with a stern gaze.

"Young dragon, as long as you are in this temple, you shall answer our questions clearly. Do you understand?" He asked. Spyro was nervously fidgeting with his front paws. "If you do not answer me, I will ask Cynder then." Spyro's eyes darted over toward the black dragoness. She now had an irritated look on her face.

"Just tell him!" She whispered sternly. Spyro bit his lip. "Spyro! You won't get in anywhere near as much trouble if you just tell!" The green dragon, Drake and Ash all stared at him.

"Well?" Ignitus asked. "Are you going to answer me?" Spyro's eyes darted back from his friends to his mentor. His face was furiously sweating. He looked back at Cynder, who starred daggers right back at him. Finally, he buried his head in his paws and a few tears began to stream down his face.

"He's… he's dead! Dead!" He sobbed. "And it's… it's my fault! I was hit and… and I pushed him in!" Cynder sighed and looked and down. Sparx sighed and shook his head. The other dragons stared at Spyro with wide eyes.

"What is this? You _pushed_ someone into a river?!" Cyril shouted, frightening the others.

"It was an accident! I swear it wasn't on purpose!" Spyro cried as he slowly slid back from Cyril.

"He's not lying!" Cynder abruptly yelled. "He was pushed!"

"Really, and by who was he pushed? Surely not you, and it couldn't it have been Sparx, now could it?" Cyril responded. Cynder nodded.

"It was someone else! Or rather, something else! It was… a shadow creature! He called himself Phantom!" Sparx flew next to Cynder.

"Oh boy you should've seen it! One minute, the three of them are looking down. Next minute, this black blur whizzes past Cynder and she scrapes the kid's wing! And then Spyro goes down and sends the kid do his watery doom! And then this clone of Spyro is standing in front of us laughing!" Sparx yelled as he reenacted the scene. Both Spyro and Cynder shot him "not helping" looks and Sparx slowly backed away with an embarrassed smile. Ignitus stared at the trio with an expression of pure shock.

"Absolute rubbish!" Cyril exclaimed. "A shadow creature, you say? Those only exist in stories!" Ignitus cleared his throat and Cyril turned to him. "Ah, would you care to add anything Ignitus?" Cyril asked.

"I'd like to add that you stop badgering them, Cyril!" Cyril stared at him obviously caught off guard.

"Surely you don't _believe_ their tale, do you?" Ignitus nodded.

"Of course I do. Shadow creatures are the work of a person with access to dark magic, and a very, very rare spell book that details how to perform such magic as the creation of shadow creatures. But, the one you encountered, this 'Phantom' character, he is a rare breed. He is the hardest shadow creature to create, known as a Mors or doppelganger. It can copy anything as long as it has a physical form." Ignitus exhaled deeply. "All other shadow creatures start out as small balls of purple energy. They stick to the shadows, until they find a creature to copy, and then assume that form until they are killed or the magician undoes the spell. They are very fast, very tricky, and dangerous."

"So, this really is true?" Cyril asked, stunned. Ignitus nodded. "Well," he said, turning to face Spyro, Sparx and Cynder, "I supposed I owe you three an apology." He cleared his throat. "I am sorry, may the ancestors forgive me." Spyro and Cynder nodded.

"I just have one question!" The green dragoness yelled.

"What is it, Lea?" Ignitus responded.

"How rare is this spell book? I mean, just in case we ever came across it." She said, slightly embarrassed.

"Why, we have one right in the library!" Ash's eyes widened and he perked up.

"GAH! I completely forgot! But now I _have _to tell you why Lea and I barged in like that. Ignitus, a spell book was stolen from the library!" He yelled. Cyril's eyes widened.

"Which book was it?!" He asked. Ash thought for a moment, but Lea quickly stepped in.

"The one in the glass case and on the pedestal, sir!" She answered. Ignitus's jaw now dropped.

"No… it can't be. That's it! That's the spell book. The one I told you all about!" Spyro leaped to his feet, as did Cynder.

"So there could be a connection between Phantom and our thief?!" He growled. "Then why are we standing here?! Let's get going!" Ash, Lea and Drake nodded and stood up. The five of them darted out of one of the doors. Sparx sighed.

"What's so bad about coming up with a plan first?!" He whined, flying off after them.

* * *

They arrived at the library quite abruptly. So much so, that they startled some of the other dragons in there. "Don't mind us!" Sparx yelled, waving his arms around, "We're just your friendly neighborhood book finders!" The other dragons rolled their eyes, and calmly approached the pedestal. It didn't take long to figure out the thief had shattered the glass, as Drake hissed in pain and lifted his hind leg up to find a glass shard wedged into his paw. Lea walked over and removed the shard. She then melted it with a small blast of fire and helped Drake get over to the others. Cynder was sniffing the pedestal.

"Don't you guys smell it?" She asked. Spyro breathed in and shrugged his shoulders. Ash also breathed in and shook his head. "Funny, but this pedestal has the _weirdest_ smell to it. It smells like fresh and newly grown flowers." Spyro cocked an eyebrow up.

"Really? That's really odd." He carefully walked over to where Cynder was standing and sniffed the air. "Hmmm… now that you mention it, it does have the unusually sweet aroma of a flower to it."

"Then that's the answer!" Ash exclaimed. "We just follow the flowery scent and catch us a book thief!" Spyro nodded and began to walk off, sniffing the air as he went. Cynder followed closely behind him, mimicking his actions. The other three dragons and Sparx followed them. "Just remember," Ash whispered to Sparx, "This was _my _idea!" Sparx rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, because it takes a _true_ work of genius to put together a plan like yours." He replied, patting Ash on the back. Ash beamed and walked forward. Sparx sighed and shook his head. "Kids these days, always with their crazy schemes." He suddenly slammed into Drake's back. "Oof! Hey, what gives?" He asked.

"We stopped." Drake replied. He then turned and walked up to Spyro, whose eyes were closed. "What's the matter?" Spyro exhaled and opened his eyes.

"We're here…" He calmly replied. They noticed that they had made their way to the temple's balcony. They looked out and saw the sun setting. The sky was a beautiful shade of orange and red, and the balcony sparkled from the angle of the sun. Spyro looked around. "Strange… there's no one here."

"Maybe you took a wrong turn. In which case, I recommend we try again tomorrow!" Sparx exclaimed. Spyro shook his head and Sparx's shoulders drooped. "It was worth a try." He mumbled to himself.

"It's funny, though," Cynder interrupted, walking next to Spyro, "The scent seems incredibly strong here. It's definitely stronger than it was in the library." Ash and Lea sniffed the air. Lea smiled.

"I can smell it now. It tickles my nose!" She giggled. Ash nodded.

"Yeah, even I'm getting something. And I could barely smell Drake after that run in with a Grove Worm. PHEW!" Drake glared at him. Ash sheepishly grinned, "Just reminiscing! Good times… good times…" He said as he sighed. Spyro snapped him back to attention.

"You can stroll down memory lane soon, look." He pointed to the edge of the balcony. They could see a shadow there, and they promptly ran down the ramp to the main platform. The sight that Spyro saw made him suddenly stop, tripping over his legs and causing the other mesmerized dragons to trip over him. He stood up, trembling.

"Ah, pardon me. I didn't know this place was occupied by others." Came a soothing, serene, male voice. The dragons were awe-struck, and the silence seemed to last for several minutes. The shadow put the object he was staring at down, and stepped off the balcony railing. Lea broke the silence.

"Y-Y-You're a h-h-hu… a h-h-h-hu…" She nearly fainted. The figure chuckled, and pushed up the glasses that were about to fall off his face.

"I'm a human. And you are all dragons, are you not?" They slowly nodded. "I've read a lot about dragons." The figure walked up toward Spyro. He was a tall, thin man dressed in light blue attire, with dark blue boots. He had snow white hair combed back so that it all dropped to his shoulder blades. He had blue eyes that perfectly matched his outfit. He pushed his glasses up again. "I have especially read a lot about you, Dragon of Prophecy." He whispered.

"That's v-v-very f-f-flattering." Spyro responded hesitantly. Sparx flew next to him.

"Come on, buddy, that's no way to talk to the guy! Stiff upper lift, stand up straight, keep your back straight… oh, and you might want to try sucking in that belly of yours while your at it…" Spyro batted the dragonfly away with the swipe of a paw. Ash, on the other had, was staring at the book the man held neatly tucked in his arm.

"Hey, old man, what you reading there?" He asked sternly. The man adjusted his glasses with his free hand.

"I would prefer it if you did address me in such a diminutive way. It's so very… common." The man responded, smiling.

"'Very common?' What are you saying? That people call you old man often?" He asked, confused. The man chuckled.

"Not exactly. I am saying that you are far too mature to behave in such a childish way, sir dragon." He replied.

"Ouch! Boy did he tell you off!" Sparx barked, at which Ash also batted him away.

"'Sir dragon?!' Alright, old man, enough with the 'respect' games. Give us the book." The man frowned. He set the book down on the railing next to him. He pulled out a piece of cloth took off his glasses, and began cleaning them. "And stop fidgeting with your glasses!" Ash yelled.

"I do not with to give you the book, sir dragon." The man said as he stared at his working hands. "I am quite enjoying this book. It's got some wonderful things in it." The man stopped cleaning his glasses and put them back on. He picked up the book again. "Besides, if I am to make it in a dimension of magical-filled creatures like you, I should at least know what to expect." Cynder glared at him.

"That's all we needed to hear. Now return the book you stole, human!" She hissed. The man frowned.

"I have a name, former dark queen. I am Atticus." He took his glasses off, folded them, and neatly tucked them in his pocket. "Where I come from, first impressions are important. Here I am, trying to present myself as an honest gentleman, and you all make me out as some sort of old, foolish thief. I am neither old, nor foolish, nor a thief. I am simply _borrowing_ this manuscript, and I fully intended to return this when I had finished with it. That is why I was reading it on this lovely balcony. Surely, if I intended to steal it, would I not have left this dank facility?" Spyro stepped forward.

"Let's get a few things straight, Atticus. One, you stole the book." Atticus merely fidgeted with a page in the spell book. "Now I only have one question… why?"

"Did I not just…"

"That's a pathetic excuse." Cynder chimed in. Atticus sighed.

"Very well, former dark queen…" Cynder hissed at him, "I shall tell you. This world: there is magic drifting through _the very air we are breathing_. Simply being in this world for a short time has already began to change the way by body works. You can even say I am able to do, let's call them _things_ no other human would ever be able to do." He smiled and randomly turned the pages in the spell book.

"You don't need to say any more." Spyro growled. "I already know that _you_ created Phantom!" Atticus cocked an eyebrow.

"'Phantom?' Is that some sort of game?" Atticus asked.

"Quit lying! You killed an innocent dragon!" He cried.

"I have laid my hands on nothing of this world other than this lovely book." Ash growled.

"Quit lying, old geezer! Drop the book or we'll be forced to take action! I'm just about ready to…"

"Enough." Atticus snapped his fingers. Ash, Cynder, Lea, Drake and Sparx were violently shocked and tossed into a pile on the ramp. Ash stood up.

"Why you! Wait till I get my…!" But Ash walked into a blue barrier which electrocuted him and sent him flying back into the others.

"Have a seat, dragons… former dark queen. This show is for all of you." He turned to face Spyro. "I hope you are not embarrassed easily, boy, as it would be tragic for someone of your caliber and high reputation to lose to a novice magician." Atticus smiled as he coolly sidestepped a blast of fire from Spyro. "I think this spell will work quite nicely." Atticus raised his free hand, which was now glowing purple, and shot a purple laser at Spyro. The speed of the attack caught Spyro off guard and he was zapped. Spyro found himself unable to move. Atticus slowly walked up to Spyro and jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow, then waved his hand around in a circle. A purple portal opened up behind Spyro and sucked him in. Another portal opened up near the balcony rail and hurled Spyro into the barrier, shocking him and causing him to drop slowly to the ground.

"How… how the heck could a human do something like that?! All the stories say humans are powerless!" Suddenly, Ash remembered something Atticus had said:

'_This world: there is magic drifting through the very air we are breathing. Simply being in this world for a short time has already began to change the way by body works. You can even say I am able to do, let's call them things no other human would ever be able to do.'_

"No way…" He gasped. He suddenly heard Lea enthusiastically yell. Spyro had just dodged another of Atticus's lasers and swept him off his feet using his tail. Spyro tried to slam Atticus with his earth flail, but Atticus rolled backwards and back onto his feet. Spyro didn't let up on the offense, however, and used his breath attack to propel him up into the air and slammed into Atticus head first. Atticus was knocked off his feet again, at which time Spyro comet dashed straight into Atticus, running him over. He used his hind legs to propel himself back toward Atticus but suddenly stopped inches from Atticus's chest. Atticus held his free hand out and a small purple wall was blocking Spyro. Atticus jabbed his hand forward quickly and the wall shot out, driving Spyro away from Atticus. Spyro ducked to avoid being slammed into the barrier. He then glowed blue slightly and Atticus found himself moving much slower.

"Urk… so, this is the Dragon of Prophecy's temporal powers. Incredible." He exclaimed as Spyro quickly ran up to him and used his electric spin attack. This knocked Atticus up into the air, at which point Spyro jumped up to meet him and smack him around with his tail. He finished by slamming Atticus back with his hind legs like a kangaroo. The attack put distance between the two as his Dragon Time attack wore off. Spyro needed the distance to catch his breath. When he lifted his head, Atticus was clapping his hands. "Bravo! Bravo! What an impressive display of physical strength!" Spyro smirked and played along, bowing as his friends clapped for him. When Spyro was upright, Atticus was suddenly next to him. "Take a tip from your 'elders,' Dragon of Prophecy. Always stay alert during a battle." Atticus smiled and jabbed Spyro with his glowing free hand. Spyro gasped for air and sank to his knees, at which point Atticus kneed him in the ribs and punted him away with his foot. Spyro slammed into the roof of the barrier and was shocked. He then fell to the floor with a loud thud. His friends winced as they heard a snapping noise. "It appears that your ribs could use a little more flexibility. And they could absorb shock a little better" Atticus taunted, smiling. Spyro slowly got up, panting heavily.

"I don't care what you say, Atticus! I never give up!" With that he slowly rose up into the air, closing his eyes. A wall of fire began to form around his body as his friends began to realize what was happening.

"I get it!" Lea exclaimed, "He was holding back! That's why he let Atticus attack him!" Cynder rolled her eyes.

"I don't think that was _exactly_ how he wanted it to go down." She said.

Spyro suddenly stopped rising and opened his eyes. He pushed his legs and wings outward, sending blasts of fire and large fireballs everywhere. Several small explosions fogged up the balcony, and Spyro's friends all leaned forward, trying to see what happened. When the smoke cleared, Spyro was alone on the balcony. His body was encased in a bright red aura and smoke rose from his body. Spyro stared with wide eyes at the scene. "My, my, what tremendous firepower you have! I certainly would have had a devil of a time had I been standing there." Lea screamed as Spyro's friends to see Atticus sitting behind them clapping again.

"Why you…!" Drake yelled as he lunged at Atticus. But Atticus sucked himself into one of his own vortexes and reappeared in the arena. He smiled at Drake, before turning his attention back to a furious Spyro. Smoke was billowing out of the purple dragon's nostrils as he roared loudly at Atticus.

"Hmph. That's not a very polite way to get your foe's attention. And you might want to try a breath mint." He said, smiling again. Spyro ignored his taunts and shot an earth bomb at Atticus. Atticus jumped out of the way, but a whirlwind erupted from the blast and sucked Atticus in. Spyro once again took to the air and slammed into Atticus with his body. The two flew into the barrier, which shocked Atticus as Spyro jumped off of him. Atticus brushed himself off and stood up. "I see things are really _heating up_!" Atticus scoffed as he shot a purple energy ball at Spyro. A column of purple fire erupted from the energy ball. Spyro almost managed to dodge it, but his left hind leg got caught and was thoroughly burned. A large section of his scales started melting slightly. He turned and glared at Atticus, who shot two more energy balls on either side of Spyro. This time, chains of fire began slithering toward Spyro on the ground. He quickly glided over the flames, but they changed direction and continued following. Spyro wisely flew up into the air and let the flames die out, before hurling himself into Atticus. This slammed Atticus into his barrier once again.

Spyro jumped away from Atticus, standing confidently. "Ready to give up, Atticus?" Atticus stood off and dusted himself off.

"Not exactly. In fact, I'd say it's time for a fireworks display!" Atticus waved his free hand around. Two vortexes appeared on either side of him, and purple energy balls began pouring out of them. They began bouncing and floating around the arena. Atticus quickly placed a purple shield around himself and watched as energy balls collided with Spyro, sending him flying into other energy balls. After nearly a minute of this, Atticus snapped his fingers and the energy balls exploded, knocking Spyro to the ground with another loud thud.

"This is really bad!" Cynder growled. Ash nodded. He stood back and slammed himself into the barrier, only to be shocked and hurdled into Cynder. "OW! Are you crazy?!" Ash looked at her.

"I don't know about you, but I want to help Spyro!" He cried in response.

"But just doing that isn't helping! You're just going to hurt yourself and the rest of us!" Ash pouted as he thought about what to do. Meanwhile, Spyro and Atticus were hurling fireballs and purple energy balls at one another, while expertly dodging at the same time.

"Wait! I've got an idea! Remember how Ignitus was teaching us about combination attacks the other day?" Cynder nodded. "Then this is what we should do…" He leaned in and whispered into Cynder's ears. Her eyes widened.

"ARE YOU MAD?! Now's not the time for…" He put his paw to her lips. She glared at him.

"Trust me! I know more about battling than anyone else here, don't I?" Cynder frowned.

"This is going to require PERFECT aim and timing. Have you even tested this?!" She asked as she tightly curled herself up into a ball.

"Nope!" Ash happily exclaimed as he reared his head back and unloaded a torrent of fire on the black ball in front of her. Ash then charged at the flaming ball and slammed it with his tail. The ball rapidly collided with the barrier. The sound of the impact distracted Atticus and Spyro, as they noticed sparks discharging from the barrier. It only took a few seconds for Atticus's barrier to explode, throwing Atticus and Spyro into the balcony rail and Ash, Drake, Lea and Sparx up the ramp and into the door. This all happened in a second, and the flaming ball continued its trajectory and collided with Atticus. The special effect of Ash's fire kicked in and the flamed increased in intensity, propelling Atticus high in the air. He slammed down in the middle of the balcony, the spell book then slamming against his back. Ash and the others got up and ran to Spyro. Drake supported Spyro using his back. A charred and burned Cynder suddenly dragged herself out of the crater made from her impact.

"Wow! You look even less attractive than usual!" Sparx joked, laughing hysterically. The others couldn't help but break into laughter. Cynder walked up to Ash and glared at him.

"I'd hurt you… but I'm above such immature things." She hissed shaking the dust from her scorched body onto Ash, who sneezed in response. She turned her head and walked over to Spyro. "Are you alright, Spyro?"

"Speak for yourself." He chuckled. Their laughing stopped when they heard coughing. They turned to see Atticus wearily stand up. He stared at them with horror.

"That power… it is… I _must_ get… more power…" He turned to run toward one of the exit ramps, but the dragons quickly caught up to him. Spyro led the line.

"You've lost. Now hand over the book." He said, gazing into Atticus's panicking face. He slowly backed up, but realized backing further would cause him to fall from the balcony, and that could be the end of him.

"Hmph… It seems I have been outmaneuvered. Very well." Atticus grabbed the book with what was formerly his free hand and slammed it into Spyro's chest. "Take it… I was a fool to come hear in the first place! Dragons… magic… it's all stupid, anyway…" Spyro reached to grab the book with his paw, but was shocked to find his paw went right through the book.

"What the…?" he looked up and was met with a face full of Atticus's purple fist. What happened next was shocking. The force of the punch sent all 5 dragons flying at impossible speeds. They all slammed into the stone archway over the door. The force of the impact blew the arch to bits and the rubble slammed down on them. Ash wearily lifted his head and saw Atticus standing over them, laughing.

"…Ha! That was too easy! Well, noble dragons, we must part ways, for now. Do take care of yourselves… although after that little fiasco it'll be a miracle if you're all walking again." The doors suddenly opened and Ignitus and Terrador, the Earth Guardian emerged. They looked at the fallen dragons, and then at Atticus.

"This is impossible… you're…" Terrador began.

"…leaving. Do take care of these fellows for me, would you. It would be a shame to lose them. They're such a… virulent bunch of kids. Bon voyage, Guardians!" Atticus took out his glasses, put them back on, and opened the spell book. He began reading it as he descended the balcony's left ramp. Ignitus looked at Sparx, who was frantically fluttering around the unconscious dragons. He then flew up to Ignitus.

"Good news! We found your book-napper!" He proclaimed, joyfully swinging his arm to the side.

**To be continued!**


	3. Rebirth

Author's Note: I realize I'm making some very long chapters (anyone that's ever read the only story I finished would know the chapters were about half the size of these ones)

**Author's Note: I realize I'm making some very long chapters (anyone that's ever read the only story I finished would know the chapters were about half the size of these ones). My apologies to those who are not fond or intimidated by the size of the chapters! **

**Spyro is copyright Sierra, Ash is copyright Mad Guns22, and all OCs are copyright of myself. **

**Chapter 3- Rebirth**

"_Urgh… man that smarted. And it didn't help that the water was bitter cold either… Hey, there's someone sitting over there. Hey! HEY!" _

"_Salutations."_

"_Hey, you like kind of funny. Almost like from stories I'd heard."_

"_Speak for yourself, boy; you and I are quite similar." _

"_But I'm a…"_

"_Really now? Why don't you look in a mirror? I happen to have one right here." _

"_Thanks, mister… AAAAAAAH! What the hell?!"_

_CRASH!_

"_Mind your tongue… and your coordination. That was my favorite mirror that is now in fragments." _

"_Mister, I look a lot like you." _

"_That you do."_

"_Why don't you try looking up?!" _

"_Put these on first. I do have a sense of dignity, you know." _

"_Urgh… these feel itchy. I've never had to wear, uh, what do you call this?"_

"_Clothing." _

"_Right… but I don't understand. Before I got out I was…"_

"_That river must have been charmed. I lack knowledge of the way things work around here, but I can still make an assumption." _

"_Can I just ask you one thing, mister?" _

"_By all means." _

"_Have you seen two small dragons? One's purple, the other's black."_

"_And why is that of any importance?" _

"_I need to have a friendly conversation with those back-stabbing dev… pleasant, sweet angels." _

* * *

"You should all be absolutely ashamed of yourselves!" Ignitus yelled. The dramatic tone in his voice was very unlike him and startled them. "How could you be so reckless as to try something like that?!" Ignitus looked at Ash as he asked that question. "Do you know what could have happened if that attack had misfired? Do you?!" Ash glared at the ground like it was some sort of evil being.

"I was just trying to help Ignitus. If we hadn't tried that, Spyro might not be here with us." He responded.

"It's true, Ignitus!" Spyro added. "That man had the upper hand! Who knows what could have happened if he tried using another attack like his last one?!" Spyro didn't look very good, and neither did any of the other dragons. Cynder had taken the worst beating of all of them, with thanks to her assist in Ash's attack. She still lay in an unconscious heap on the floor. Drake was lightly using his ice breath to keep the black dragoness cool, as well as to try and heal some of her burns. He frowned.

"This isn't working. Rather, it's only making things worse. Maybe we should try something less frozen, like water?" He said. He tried to stand up, but growled angrily and collapsed back on the floor. He looked at his left hind leg, which had swelled up and was an unusual shade of black and purple. "It must be broken. Now _that's_ something to use ice breath on." He turned around and began cooling off his injury. Lea was limping around toward them.

"I saw a stream near the west end of the temple. We should try getting water from there." She exclaimed. Lea had a rather large gash on her back, and she seemed quite off balanced as she walked. Finally, she lied down next to Cynder, panting. "I can't walk any more. I'm feeling way too dizzy." She said as she fanned herself with her paw. "I can't believe that man could smile after doing such a cruel thing! It's… it's worse than cruel!"

"I've got it, I've got it!" Sparx exclaimed buzzing around. "It's the devil! He's come to drag the sinful people down to the…" Sparx suddenly covered his mouth. He then slapped himself on the face. "Did I just say that?! Boy, that heat _must_ be taking a real toll on little old me! This has got to be the _worst _summer ever!"

"Sparx, the leaves are _just_ beginning to grow back on the trees." Spyro interrupted, rolling his eyes. "You're just delusional again. What is it you always used to tell me…? Oh yeah, 'better get a good 8 hours tonight, buddy!'" Spyro suggested, raising his voice to imitate Sparx's nasally, high-pitched voice. Sparx put on a sour face and folded his arms again.

"Yeah, yeah, you're a regular comedian. Listen, if I were you, I'd stick to the 'hero' business and live the humor to your bro'!" Sparx replied lazily waving a hand at the purple dragon. The discussion abruptly ended when Terrador cleared his throat.

"That's quite enough." He said. "I myself am I quite stunned at what I saw. We are suggesting an impossible idea… a human! Here, in this world! Of all the ridiculous tales… we'd be laughed out of the first room we told a story like this in." He grunted. "Am I to understand it was he who was the cause of this trouble?" Everyone slowly nodded their heads, even Sparx.

"You have to believe us!" Ash energetically responded. "That guy… he can do MAGIC! And he was carrying _that spell book_! It doesn't take a genius to put two and two together! That human is using forbidden magic!" Spyro stood up.

"He had to have made Phantom. There's no other possible explanation!" Spyro exclaimed. He turned to face the two guardians. "Unless _you_ happen to have a better explanation, am I right?" The two guardians looked at each other and looked back at the purple dragon. They shook there heads. "I thought so." He turned and walked away, Ash was following him. "If you excuse us…" And they left the room. Ignitus cleared his throat this time.

"While I admit, this is all a bit alarming; we must remember that this man is in possession of a dangerous object. He can easily stir up quite a ruckus as long as he's in possession of that book." Ignitus said, staring intently into the small pool of water in front of him.

"Can you see anything?" Drake asked. Ignitus sighed and shook his head.

"Nothing; I haven't the faintest clue as to his whereabouts. We must be patient though. An object of such value was no doubt heavily charmed by our ancestors to prevent it from being seen with such ease." A loud grunting sound was heard over Ignitus's voice. They turned to see Terrador asleep against one of the walls. "Hmmm… I suggest that you young ones get some sleep as well. You can stay here, and I'll wake you if there's any trouble.

* * *

"Yeah, that's the place." The voice whispered. "Just wait till I get my hands on them…" A chuckling could be heard coming from next to the speaking man.

"I didn't say that we would be stopping there." He said as he pushed up his glasses. The other man stepped out from behind a tree. He was dressed in black boots, dark blue pants, and had on a dark blue shirt. Over the shirt he wore a black jacket, with the sleeves rolled up past his elbows. He also had on dark blue gloves, but they were more rugged gloves, leaving the tops of his fingers as well as his knuckles exposed to the air. His hair was down to about his neck, but some of the hair was draped over one side of his face, obscuring anyone's view of the features on that particular section of his face. "We must continue onward if we are to find out more about the story in my book." The other man smirked.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you? You only live once, so you have to make the most of it." He turned and faced the small glowing temple in the distance. "I'm not leaving until I have a little fun. Besides, I want to get one last good look at the place." He cracked his knuckles, which irritated the other man.

"You'll have time for that later…"

"Listen, uh, what was your name again…?"

"…Atticus." He replied, pushing up his glasses. "Come to think of it, you never told me yours." The other man frowned.

"I don't… have a name." Atticus chuckled at this.

"Come now, do not be so shy! We are like brothers, you and I. Granted, I have a brother already, but that's completely irrelevant to the topic at hand." He replied, at which the other man frowned. Atticus pushed his glasses up again. "I see, so you're being serious? Then I shall give you a name. How about, Phineas?" The other man's frown grew.

"I care not for your elegant and fancy names, 'bro.' You can just call me… Utsuro." He responded.

"Hmmm… in our tongue, that appears to mean 'empty.'" Atticus smirked and pushed his glasses up. "You are really that troubled by this predicament." He asked.

"Even before it… I had next to nothing. And just as I thought I had something to live for, it all slipped away." Utsuro exclaimed. He suddenly smirked and began walking toward the temple. "Atticus, you can cast magic, no?" Atticus trotted up to him and nodded. "Good, why don't you join me in some midnight entertainment?" Atticus frowned.

"As I mentioned, we must be…" Utsuro silenced him.

"It's the middle of the night. They will _not_ follow us. I can guarantee it." Atticus thought for a moment.

"If I were to play along with your little 'game,' good sir, what would I get in return?" Atticus pushed his glasses up again. "I don't do favors without a reason." Utsuro simply smirked.

"Just wait until you figure out about your story. As soon as that happens, I'll be able to help you." Atticus cocked an eyebrow. "I know more than you think old man. Just trust me on this one." Atticus nodded.

"Very well, I do feel quite sorry for you. And you remind me of my Seymour, ah what a lad he was. We had some good times together." He turned to face Utsuro. "I suppose you deserve even something as miniscule as my trust." He turned and began walking at a faster pace. "Come, we are burning moonlight." Utsuro shrugged.

"That's a first." He exclaimed, shrugging his shoulders.

* * *

It was a small river than ran right next to the temple. It was deep enough for a young dragon to be fully submerged in it, but it was not a very powerful river. As such, the dragons liked to play in the river when it was a very warm day. But it was not warm out, nor was it daytime anymore. The two dragons walked toward the river, carrying small bowl-shaped objects in their mouths. They stopped at the edge of the body of water. It was a still night, the trickling of the water echoed in Spyro's head. He sighed, dropping his bowl. Ash turned over to face him, also dropping his. He tried to pat his purple friend on the back, but Spyro batted his paw away. "It's nothing." Spyro said. "It's just that this reminds me so much of _that moment_…"

--

"_And that was when I found what I __really__ wanted to show you guys." Dagon motioned to the left of him and Spyro, Cynder and Sparx followed him to the edge of large field on the outskirts of the ruins. They looked down and saw a river way below them. "Pretty neat huh?" Dagon said, grinning. Spyro started at him, confused._

"_I don't get it… what are we trying to see here?" Spyro asked. The fact that the river was an odd color wasn't exactly startling to Spyro or Cynder. They'd both encountered several strange lakes and streams in their travels. Although most of them turned out to be poisonous or infested with tons of creepy critters._

"_You don't see it? The glow… err aura, I mean?" Spyro tried squinting his eyes and that's when he saw it. The purple river was emanating some sort of bizarre orange glow. There was also something else which caught his attention, and startled him slightly._

"_Wait, you said this was a river, am I right?" Dagon nodded. "But, don't rivers normally have currents?" Dagon nodded again. "But this river… it's as smooth and still as a lake!" Spyro exclaimed. Dagon grinned and nodded again._

"_That was the other strange thing that made this river so enchanting to me. I really want to know more about it. Maybe it has some sort of magical charm to it or maybe it was important to the people that lived in those ruins." But the foursome was soon distracted when they heard a rustling noise. They wheeled around to see what had happened, when Cynder suddenly toppled over. Even worse, her bladed tail slammed into one of Dagon's wings, tearing the membrane and making him shriek in pain. "What the heck?! What was that for?" He cried, as wiped some of the blood off the wing. Cynder stared at him in horror._

"_But… I didn't… I don't even know how I just fell! It felt like… like a blast of air knocked me over!" She responded, clearly scared by what had just happened. But another rustling soon caught their attention. This time, Spyro slammed into Dagon. The latter screamed as he lost his balance and tumbled off the edge of the cliff face. Spyro's face turned pail as he, Sparx, and Cynder looked down just in time to see Dagon collide with the river. The event caused the faint orange glow of the river to suddenly increase, overshadowing the original purple color. Spyro's legs trembled and he fell on his stomach. "Spyro… how could you?" Cynder cried, a small tear rolling down her face._

"_No… I couldn't have… could I?"_

--

"Listen, I know that it's really bugging you, but you have to put it all aside. It happened, and you can't change that." Spyro kicked some dirt into the river.

"I _know_ that! But now that we've found the person who's responsible for Phantom, it makes me even angrier. I mean, I let him get away…" Spyro grumbled. Ash shook his head.

"_We _let him get away. We all got overconfident and he saw through that." Spyro faced Ash.

"I never should have brought you guys into this. It only hurt you guys…"

"_We_ were the ones who saw that the book. If it wasn't for us, nothing would have happened. We're just as much a part of it as you are." Ash said as he filled the bucket up with water. "Alright, let's head back to the…" Suddenly, Ash's bucket exploded, sprawling him upon the ground.

"Ash?! ASH! Are you okay?! What happened?!" Spyro shouted as he ran over to the fallen dragon. Suddenly, Spyro hissed in pain and collapsed on the ground. Ash got to his feet and saw a shadow kneeling next to Spyro. Ash's eyes widened.

"Hey! HEY! Get off of my friend!" He yelled. The assailant, who was busy strangling the purple dragon, paid Ash no mind. Ash's eyes narrowed in anger. "I warned you punk, now prepare to eat…" Suddenly, a bright purple flash caught Ash's attention and he was struck square in the jaw by a purple energy ball. Ash quickly unleashed a jet of flames, hitting Spyro's assailant and knocking him away, before Ash collided with the ground. Spyro gasped for air as he scampered away from the river. The assailant stood back up and ran at Spyro. Ash quickly stepped in front, but was struck in the side by another purple blast and tumbled backward. The assailant continued to assault the purple dragon, but was met by an earth shot from the angered purple dragon. The assailant fell into the water with a loud splash and groaned in pain.

"That's quite enough." A voice rang out as purple energy balls bombarded the small purple dragon, sending him tumbling into Ash. The two rolled backward into a thorn bush. Their screams of pain were enough to attract attention, as Lea, Drake, Ignitus, Terrador, and the now conscious Cynder bolted out of the temple doors an instant later. Ignitus lit one of the small torches next to the door with his fire breath. What they saw shocked them. Atticus was standing in front of them, pushing up his glasses. Next to him was a mysterious other human.

"There are _two_ of them now?!" Terrador growled. He turned and saw the two dragons. "What have you done?!" He roared. The assailant grunted at Terrador's questions. Atticus turned to face him.

"You must be crazy, my boy. Charging a dragon like that… you know no magic nor own any weapons." The assailant, Utsuro just rolled his eyes.

"It seemed to be working, old man. I was just seconds away from making sure that purple pest didn't take another breath of air." He replied. Atticus fiddled with the cover of the spell book.

"In any case, we have had our fun. Now if you excuse us…" Atticus snapped his fingers and walked away. Utsuro walked after him, turning his head to glare at the group of dragons.

"Next time, punks." He muttered as he jogged after Atticus. The guardians quickly turned their attention to the two dragons. Cynder and Lea had managed to get the two of the thorn bushes, but they were both messes. The thorn bush was now completely soaked in red liquid. Cynder slowly walked over and began dragging Spyro toward the river. She coughed disapprovingly as some of the purple dragon's blood rubbed up against her face.

"It's a good thing we're near the river." Cynder exclaimed as she pushed the unconscious Spyro into the river. "And it's a better thing he's unconscious. If he were awake he'd be scared silly if I told him to jump into a river." She continued, remembering the purple dragon's fear of swimming.

* * *

"Do you see anything Ignitus?!" Spyro growled, pacing angrily around the large fire dragon. Ignitus continued to stare intently at the Pool of Visions. "I've had it with the waiting! Where are they?!" Smoke billowed out of his nostrils. Cynder walked up to the purple dragon and patted him on the back.

"It's okay, Spyro. We'll get them; I promise we'll get them. But right now, you have to be patient." She said. Spyro spine tingled as she stroked his purple scales. "Ignitus is trying very hard and…"

"I see something!" The guardian called, attracting Spyro and Cynder's attention.

"Well, don't leave us hanging, big guy!" Sparx exclaimed. "The sooner you tell us, the sooner we're out adventuring again!" Sparx suddenly covered his mouth again. "Man… I must be getting heat stroke or something." He pretended to faint in front of the two young dragons, but was ignored.

"Yes, something is coming into focus. I see…" He craned his neck downward, putting him closer to the glowing water. "I see… Avalar. That is where the two humans have gone. And that is where you shall follow them to." Spyro cocked an eyebrow.

"Avalar?!" He asked. Ignitus shook his head. "Hey, we get to see Hunter again! Boy, it's been awhile since we've seen him." Spyro was overjoyed as he trotted out of the room. Cynder smiled slightly and followed him.

"See, now you're messing with his emotions! Some mentor you're turning into." Sparx said, as he turned to fly after the two dragons. "Well, at least it gives us something to do…"

* * *

"Well, if this isn't a surprise, I don't know what is! Spyro, Cynder and their mosquito friend have come for a visit!" The cheetah grinned from ear to ear as he saw them. Sparx folded his arms.

"Mosquito?! What does a guy have to do to get some respect from the people you meet, buddy?" Sparx asked, turning to face Spyro with a long face. The cheetah laughed.

"I missed your, er… unique brand of humor, Sparx." The cheetah replied, grinning sheepishly. Sparx grinned.

"Now that's more like it, Hunter!" He joyfully replied, patting the cheetah on the back.

"But seriously, I only called you a mosquito because that's what this guy here was calling you." Hunter stepped to the side and Spyro and Sparx's jaws nearly hit the floor.

"K-K-Kane?!" Spyro asked. The Atlawa Tribe member nodded. Spyro walked up to him, enchanted. "It's been… awhile." Spyro exclaimed. Kane nodded.

"Nearly four years, Spyro. I see you and your mosquito pal are doing well!" Sparx rolled his eyes. "…And I see we're not alone here. While I remember you as being much, much larger, I'm guessing you're Cynder, no?" Cynder nodded. "Don't worry; I'm not going to hurt you." Kane laughed. "If there's one thing Spyro taught me, it was to forgive others." Spyro now rolled his eyes.

"Well, I wouldn't say I _taught_ you that…" Kane shook his head.

"Don't be so modest! Even the great purple dragon can accept some praise every now and then." Spyro nodded.

"Thanks, Kane…" Spyro replied.

"Alright, now that we've had our friendly reunion, on to business!" Sparx yelled but was batted away by Spyro.

"So, what brings you to Avalar, Kane?" Kane held up a letter, Spyro quickly skimmed it.

"A fighting tournament?" Kane nodded. "And the prize is some mystical gem?" Kane nodded once again.

"They say it points the way to a mythical place, where two artifacts of great value lie." Spyro was intrigued by this. "Well, I thought if I could find these artifacts, it would benefit the Atlawa. I heard one of the artifacts is a book…"

"…a book?" Cynder spoke up. "Where have I heard something like that before?!" Spyro shook his head.

"It was probably just a dream." Spyro responded. "Well, good luck Kane!" Kane nodded.

"If you guys want to watch, they're letting people into the arena in the center of the city for free." Kane waved goodbye to them and walked into a large crowd of people. Hunter then rejoined them.

"So, what brings you guys here? Were you invited to fight in this also?" Spyro shook his head. "Well, I doubt you're here for a friendly visit with an old friend, so let's hear it!" Hunter exclaimed. Spyro nodded and proceeded to tell Hunter of yesterday's events. "Wow; that sure is quite a lot to take in."

"Have you perhaps seen either of the two men here?" Cynder asked. Hunter thought for a moment.

"Well, now that you mention it…" He continued to think, humming to himself. "I did see a guy with snowy white hair walking toward the arena. Maybe he's this 'Atticus' fellow."

"That sound like him! Wow, thanks a lot, Hunter!" Spyro exclaimed. "Well, we should get going." They turned to leave.

"Wait… I'll go with you guys! I've been pretty bored around here anyway!" Hunter grabbed his bow and some arrows and took off after them.

* * *

The crowd that was making its way into the arena was enormous. All sorts of different bestiary were gathering together to partake in the viewing of the tournament. "Wow. This seems like a pretty popular event." Spyro stated, watching creatures ranging from phoenixes to Wild Hounds to wizards, garbed in robes and hats so only their eyes were visible. "Look at all the people here! How are we supposed to find Atticus among all these people?"

"Hmm… an individual much taller than most of these people, who looks completely different from everyone walking in front of us. Boy that sure sounds like a real challenge to me." Sparx replied, rolling his eyes.

"This arena is actually really big. And the fact that it's packed with spectators is not going to help us." Hunter said, surveying the crowd for any signs of the human. "Well, it looks like we should head in. Try to stay close to me." He said as he grabbed Spyro and pulled him into the crowd. Cynder quickly locked tails with the purple dragon and walked with them. They pushed and shoved through what seemed like an endless wave of people while Hunter shouted "Excuse us," "Pardon us," "Step aside, we're in quite a bit of a hurry," at random people. They all yelled back in discontent and shoved the cheetah back. Eventually, Cynder felt her grip on Spyro's tail beginning to loosen.

"Uh… guys…" She began, but she was too late. The shoving and pushing of the crowd caused her to lose her grip, and drift behind into the crowd. "Spyro! Hunter! Sparx!" She tried to yell. They were unable to hear her. Eventually, she lost patient and wisely chose to fly up over the crowd through the front archway. She scanned the crowd for any sign of them, but she had no luck. She managed to find an empty corridor and landed there. "Oh great, now what am I supposed to do?!" She looked around. There were several doors arranged in front of her. They could lead to the spectator seats, stairs to upper levels, or they could be an entrance to the arena. Suddenly, someone tapped her on the shoulder. She yelled and turned around. She found that she was facing a wizard. He was dressed in very nice gold robes, and wore a red silk hat.

"Ah! You must be one of the fighters! We've been looking everywhere for you!" Cynder's eyes widened.

"Fighters?! No, no, no, you've made a mistake. You see, I just got lost and I'm look…" The wizard grabbed her front leg.

"Come on! Your match is just about to start and the crowd doesn't like to be kept waiting. Boy, are they going to be thrilled to see a dragon fighting in this tournament again after all this time!" Cynder gulped. This couldn't end well for her. As they approached a rather large door, the sounds of the cheering crowd erupted into a deafening roar. The wizard opened the door, and the light of the sun blinded the black dragoness.

"Good luck! Try not to get beat up too badly!" The wizard shoved the black dragoness through the doors. She slowly walked down a runway toward the large circular area where the fights were held. The crowd was now murmuring excitedly amongst themselves. Way up near the top, Sparx instantly recognized the small black dot and elbowed Spyro.

"Hey look. Your girlfriend is about to get in there and duke it out! Knock 'em dead!" Sparx yelled. Spyro's eyes widened and he ran up to the railing.

"Oh no!! How did this happen?!" He cried.

"Someone obviously didn't have a good grip on her." Sparx replied, folding his arms. Suddenly, the set of doors opposite Cynder slowly opened, and her opponent calmly strolled down the runway. He was staring at the floor with his hands buried in the pockets of his pants. He had a long sword strapped to the back of his jacket. The sword had a purple handle which was connected to the sword by a strange turquoise gem. Cynder instantly recognized the man and gasped.

"Y-you! You're that man… from the temple!" The man chuckled, and kicked some dirt around.

"Name's Utsuro, Cynder. And yes, I know your name. Try not to look too surprised." Cynder's face was filled with fear and worry. Utsuro laughed. "I've come from the bowls of hell to see a fitting end to your pathetic life. And what a better way to end it, then in front of all these people! No doubt, you made many of their lives miserable when you were still the Dark Queen…" Cynder growled at him.

"I don't have to take that kind of stuff from you, human!" She responded.

"Heh! I love a woman with an attitude. You've got fire in your eyes, but let's see if that fire flows through your veins." He gripped the handle of his sword and pulled it in front of him. He pointed the tip of the blade at Cynder. "Come and get it, if you can that is." Cynder quickly responded to his taunt by charging circles around him in an attempt to confuse him. Utsuro stood in the middle of the arena and pointed his sword straight in front of him. He leaned back, then charged forward while powerfully jabbing the sword forward. Amazingly, Cynder ran into the sword and tripped over it, tumbling over and rolling to the edge of the arena. Utsuro took advantage of the opening and ran toward Cynder. He slammed his sword downward, but never heard the satisfying screech of a wounded dragoness. Instead, he heard the sound of metal against metal, as Cynder deflected the attack with her bladed tail. Utsuro quickly back flipped to dodge a counter swipe from Cynder. "Oh, she's a fast one! Maybe this _will_ be something interesting!"

"You're gonna be eating those words when I finish with you!" She responded as she spat two fireballs, one high and one low. Utsuro rolled backward, but the fireball caused an unexpected mini explosion, throwing Utsuro back a ways. The attack put some distance between Cynder and the human. He got up and brushed the dirt off.

"Easy on the outfit! It's brand new!" He taunted as Cynder shot three more fireballs at him. Utsuro smirked and jumped into the air. Then, to everyone's surprise, he jumped a second time, easily dodging all three fireballs. He then threw his sword like a lance at the black dragoness. Cynder barely dodged the attack, but Utsuro landed next to his blade, and pulled it out of the ground while at the same time performing a powerful overhead swiping attack. The attack made contact with Cynder's delicate underbelly and she cried in pain as she slammed into the ground. She stood up and wiped the shimmering red liquid off her chest. "Had enough yet, girly?" Utsuro taunted.

"Quite the opposite, actually! I'm just getting warmed up!" An aura appeared around Cynder. Utsuro stood there, obviously confused. "I didn't want to do this, but you're forcing me into this!" She cried. She smirked as she felt a familiar and cold sensation rush through her veins. It was the feeling of the dark power that Cynder secretly hid from the world. She embraced its cold feel as spiked metal collars appeared on her neck, front legs and tail. They were a symbol of the past: of the immeasurable darkness that once consumed her. Sure, most of that power was gone, but the part that was left behind was now controllable. And when she unleashed it, she was a force to be recking with. And that's exactly what she planned on doing right now. The aura vanished and she stood there, facing her opponent with a new look on her face. It was a look of pure confidence; it was as if a brand new Cynder was standing before Utsuro. "You want a fight you twisted man? I'll give you a beating to remember. Let's dance."

**To be continued! **


	4. Incomplete Being

**Author's Note: I greatly apologize for all the delay. However, my computer's hard drive slowly started breaking, and eventually I just had to get it replaced altogether. And I was a little lazy. But I plan on finishing this, so here comes chapter 4!**

**Spyro and respective characters copyright Sierra, Ash is copyright Mad Guns22, and all OCs are copyright of myself.**

**Chapter 4- Incomplete Being**

Utsuro stood there laughing. "So, the little kitten is showing us her claws. Like I'm really going to be scared of a little jewelry! Come on, at least make something useful appear next time you go around generating auras!" Cynder continued to smile confidently at him. "What's a matter, kitten? Has mama cat got your tongue? That's too bad." Cynder hunched lower to the ground.

"I wouldn't quite say this 'jewelry' is entirely useless!" She replied, and she opened her mouth. However, instead of black fire shooting out of it, a fine purple mist flew out. Utsuro stood smirking over the mist. Suddenly, the smile faded from his face and turned into an expression of shock. He dropped his weapon and sank to his knees, clutching his throat.

"C-C-Can't… breathe… what in the hell did you… do?!" Cynder laughed and charged the weakened foe. She did a somersault, allowing her tail blade to swing over her and strike Utsuro in the shoulder. The blade came out of the shoulder painted red, and Cynder followed up by knocking Utsuro back with the combined forced of her head and wings. Utsuro stood up and frowned. "So there's more to you than meets the eye, eh kitten? Well that's fine and all... but I could care less about how much magic you can shoot out of your mouth." Utsuro double jumped into the air and slammed into the dragoness with his foot. The wind was knocked out of her as Utsuro picked up his sword and upward slashed the dragoness. Cynder was faster, however, and deflected the attack with her bladed tail.

Utsuro tried to follow up by thrusting the sword at Cynder, but she safely glided away from the attack. She turned around and shot a ball of purple mist at Utsuro. Utsuro tried rolling backward, but the purple mist still managed to make contact with him. Once again, he found himself struggling to move and Cynder took the opportunity to charge to the side of him. Once again she opened her mouth. This time a clear blast of energy similar to Spyro's earth shot slammed into Utsuro, knocking him up one of the gangplanks and into a door. He grunted as he was slammed against the door, the wind being forcefully knocked out of him. He slowly rose to his feet. "How many little tricks do you really have?" He growled. Cynder smirked.

"Enough to take you down with ease!" She replied. Utsuro stood up.

"Is that so?" He called back. And he began running back toward Cynder. Cynder also charged at the human, readying to swing her bladed tail. The dragoness struck first, but Utsuro ducked under the attack and swung his feet around, tripping Cynder. The dragoness toppled over and Utsuro downward slashed the dragoness. She screamed as the sword made contact with her back, creating a large gash that ran from one side of her to the other. She got to her feet, gritting her teeth from the unbearable pain coursing through her veins. Utsuro did not hold up, and threw his sword upward. He jumped up toward the spinning sword, caught it by the handle, and slammed downward. Cynder barely managed to dodge the attack, as she rolled sideways back on to her feet. She opened her mouth and shot a column of fire at the human. The flames made contact, and knocked Utsuro off his feet. Cynder took advantage of the opening and leaped into the air. She spun around, and then dived at Utsuro. She then flipped over, flinging her tail blade over her.

But rather than making contact with Utsuro, it made contact with his sword. Utsuro breathed heavily and he could be seen sweating bullets as his sword dangled inches from his nose. He took a deep breath and pushed upward with all his strength, knocking the dragoness off of him. He quickly got back up to his feet, panting. "You're good! A little rough around the edges… but good…"

"Then you'll like this even better!" Cynder called out as she unleashed a strange green energy from her mouth. The energy appeared to take the shape of a giant hand which grabbed Utsuro. He gasped as Cynder slammed her head to the left, and the hand threw Utsuro into another door. He hit it face first, and broke through the old wooden door. The crowd watching the fight gasped in shock as the black dragoness stood there, sweating heavily and taking long, deep breaths.

"Holy cow! She's really giving it to him! ATA' GIRL, CYNDER!" Sparx yelled, waving his arms about. Cynder turned and acknowledged the dragonfly with a smile and a head nod. Spyro was staring at the door.

"What happened? Is it over?" He asked, trying to see through the door. Suddenly, he saw a piece of wooden debris fly across the arena and smack the black dragoness in the head. Utsuro stood in the doorway, clutching another piece of wood. One of his arms was covered in splinters and scrapes. "No doubt, he managed to shield his face." Spyro muttered under his breath. Cynder stood up and faced him, a small cut now on her forehead.

"What gives?! You're not supposed to…" Utsuro laughed and threw another piece of debris. This one landed straight in her moving mouth and the crowd erupted into a roar of laughter. She spat out the wood and a small amount of blood. She hissed at him.

"You have to make use of the resources at your disposal, right?!" He taunted in response. He then had to double jump over three fireballs, but was suddenly struck by the green energy hand and thrown to the arena floor. He stood up then gasped. He grabbed his back in pain, dropped his sword and sunk to the ground. After a few seconds, Cynder began to walk toward. The crowd was on the edge of there seats. Was it over? Had the young dragoness managed to best her male foe? She stopped and put her paw on his back. She was about to roll him over, when she felt movement under her paw. "Idiot…" She heard, and that was the last thing she heard before she felt a stinging pain course through her once again. She looked down to see Utsuro face up and her chest with a large bleeding cut on it. "And this is where it ends, kitten. Ciao!" And with that Utsuro leaped up and slammed her on the forehead with the blunt of his sword. A loud cracking sound was heard and tears began to form in her eyes.

"You sick, cheating…" She was then pinned to the floor under the weight of Utsuro's boot.

"So, you like to slice innocent creatures with your blade…?" Cynder screeched in pain as Utsuro slammed the tip of his sword into one of her wings. "Well so do I, kitten." He jammed the sword deeper then pulled it out. The gem on the sword began to glow and Utsuro's weapon transformed before the crowd's eyes. It suddenly looked like a larger model of Cynder's tail blade. "Oh, did I forget to mention. This is a _magic_ sword. I can copy the attacks of my enemies with this. Like so…!" He yelled as he spun the sword around. The sword glowed and then released a colorless energy blast similar to the one Cynder had used on him earlier. Cynder was thrown out of the arena and into a wall. She crashed into it then sank into the swampy water surrounding the arena. Utsuro's weapon glowed as it transformed back into his original sword. He reattached it to his jacket and buried his hands back in his pocket. He scanned the now silent crowd. "Well, it looks like the old man ditched me. I'm going to have to thank him for that when I see him later." He turned and sprinted toward one of the doors. He quickly double jumped up into the spectator seats. Then he double jumped up to the top section. A hissing could be heard and Utsuro turned to see an enraged Spyro sprinting toward him, Hunter and Sparx following him.

"You monster! Wait till I get my paws on you…!" Utsuro laughed.

"Maybe another time, kid." He jumped up on top of the wall surrounding the upper level of the arena. "But if I were you, I'd be helping out my girlfriend so she doesn't drown!" Utsuro laughed as he jumped off the arena wall. The crowd exploded in an uproar of panicked shouts and screams. Spyro skidded to a halt and turned to the arena.

"Oh no… CYNDER!" He yelled as he leaped into the air and flew down toward the arena. Sparx gave chase leaving Hunter standing there with a stupefied look on his face.

"Uh… I think I'll take the stairs!" He exclaimed as he jogged toward an exit. Spyro, meanwhile, landed in the arena in time to see two wizards levitating the black dragoness out of the water. She coughed up a mixture of the green water and blood. Spyro sprinted over to her.

"Cynder! Are you okay? Please, Cynder, speak to me!" Cynder weakly opened her eyes and looked up.

"Spyro?" The purple dragon nodded. "Spyro… that man… he's… I saw… other…" Her eyes slowly closed and her head fell back to the ground.

"He's what?! What did you see? Cynder?!" There was no response. "No… we have to get her out of here!" Spyro yelled to one of the wizards.

"We'll need to take her to a healer. We've got no time to lose!" The wizard responded.

* * *

Spyro was lying down on the grown. He had no idea how long he'd been sleeping for. But the warm feeling of the bright sun soon disappeared and his eyes shot open. He coughed several times and looked up to see Hunter standing over him with a bucket. He shivered and assumed the obvious. "What was that for?!" He asked, coughing up some water. Sparx flew in front of him.

"Well, we've only been trying to wake you up for the last 20 minutes or so. They don't lie when they say dragons are the deepest sleepers." Spyro glared at Sparx. "Err… anyway," Sparx began, nervously scratching the back of his head. "Hunter had something he wanted to say to you!" Sparx quickly raced behind Hunter, poking his head out to see Spyro still glaring at him.

"Listen, Spyro, I've got something _really_ important I have to tell you!" Spyro rolled his eyes. "No, it really is important!"

"Then let's hear it, Hunter." Spyro replied. Hunter took a deep breath.

"You know that gem they were offering as a prize in the tournament?" Hunter asked. Spyro thought for a second then nodded.

"Yeah, why? Did Kane win it?" Hunter shook his head. "Then who did?" Spyro asked.

"No one." Hunter replied. Spyro raised an eyebrow in question.

"What happened?! Did the last match turn out to be a draw or something?"

"Stolen…" Hunter mumbled.

"I beg your pardon?" Spyro asked.

"It turned out to be stolen, the gem anyway. The guards say that it was stolen during the first match by someone with snowy white hair and a book in his arms." Spyro's eyes widened.

"But that was Cynder's match! And that man, they're describing Atticus!" Suddenly, a memory flashed into his head:

_He scanned the now silent crowd. "Well, it looks like the old man ditched me. I'm going to have to thank him for that when I see him later."_

Spyro growled as a thought popped into his head. "Damn that Atticus! He tricked us!" He punched the ground with his paw.

"But how could he have tricked us?! We haven't even seen him since he ambushed us!" Sparx replied.

"I know, but what if he somehow got Cynder and that other human to fight. He knew with the human fighting, he was free to wander around by himself. And with Cynder fighting, we would be too busy watching that to worry about searching for him! I don't know whether to kill Atticus or shake his hand for such a well-planned trick." Spyro growled. "_How_ did I not see that coming?!" Hunter shook his head.

"No one would have been able to see something like that coming, let alone generate a plan like that. He must have capitalized on a mere coincidence: that Cynder got separated from us in the crowd. He probably brainwashed those wizards into thinking Cynder was the fighter or something." Sparx was staring intently at his fingers.

"I think we're dealing with someone way out of our league here. I suggest we give up and head back to the temple. I'm sure in a few days, we'll forget _all_ about this crazy human thing!" Sparx said. Spyro shook his head.

"Never!" He yelled. Sparx sighed. "We can't stop trailing Atticus! Don't you remember what Kane said?!"

"_A fighting tournament?" Kane nodded. "And the prize is some mystical gem?" Kane nodded once again._

"_They say it points the way to a mythical place, where two artifacts of great value lie." Spyro was intrigued by this. "Well, I thought if I could find these artifacts, it would benefit the Atlawa. I heard one of the artifacts is a book…"_

"…_a book?" Cynder spoke up. "Where have I heard something like that before?!" Spyro shook his head._

"_It was probably just a dream." Spyro responded._

"What if Atticus got his hands on those artifacts?! What if they're objects of great power?!" Sparx shook his head, silencing the purple dragon.

"Yes, but those are all a bunch of 'what-ifs!' What if the artifacts don't really exist! What if Atticus can't find them? What if he's killed?! There's nothing we can do to stop him! We might as well just sit and wait! The last thing we want is for one of us to get killed. And I'd say Cynder just came pretty close to that right now." He replied. At that moment, the healer walked out to them. He was a strange witch doctor wearing a traveler's cloak and carrying a large walking stick topped by a skull. You could only see his two large, beady eyes.

"I've stabilized her and tried to tend to her as best I could. I think she'll be a bit shaken up, but fine. However she might pass out from time to time; at least until she can recover some of the blood she lost." The healer grunted. "I'm amazed that she could take this much of a beating and still be breathing. You should be counting your blessings." Spyro sighed.

"Thank you. Thank you very much." The healer nodded.

"By the way, I overhead you three talking about that tournament prize that was stolen." Sparx rolled his eyes.

"Come on! Don't encourage the guy!" The healer silenced Sparx, who folded his arms and looked away.

"I've seen gems a lot like the one they were giving away. Usually, they can do some pretty strange things." Spyro shot Sparx and "I told you so" look. "The thing about those gems is that they're usually made from really hot stuff like molten rock. After that, they freeze them for several years." The healer coughed for a few seconds. "From what I've read, you generally have to expose the gem to intense heat to undo the icy charm around it." The healer went into another coughing fit.

"Are you okay?" Hunter asked. The healer fended him off with his staff.

"I'm fine! Just getting old, that's all. I've been at this type of work for longer than you've probably been alive, kitty cat." The healer turned back to Spyro. "Anyway, if you really want to catch that gem thief, I'd suggest you head to a really warm place. I'm not talking beaches, I'm talking _intense_ heat. Like something warmer than boiling water. 'Course I'm just an old fool rambling on and on. Nobody really cares what I have to say…" The healer turned and slowly walked away from them, grumbling.

"Wait!" Spyro called. The healer stopped. "Can we go in, you know, and check in on her?" The healer merely waved at the trio and continued on his way.

"Okay," Sparx butted in, "I'm going to assume he said 'sure, and have a nice day!' in which case, same to you, pal." He exclaimed, rolling his eyes. Spyro shot him another nasty look and began to walk in to find Cynder. Hunter just shrugged and followed. "What?" Sparx called out as he followed the two of them. However, as soon as he was inside, he slammed right into Spyro's tail. "Oof! Hey, let me through! What's happening, Spyro?" Sparx flew upward only to see the other entrance flapping in the light breeze of the afternoon.

"It can't be…" Spyro gasped.

* * *

The black dragoness charged through the training room, and arrived at the Pool of Visions. She was exhausted, panting heavily from her plight back to the temple. She felt guilty for sneaking out right under the noses of her friends. Her wounds still stung, as she had ditched the bandages that were wrapped around the larger ones. Nevertheless, she walked up to the small pool of water and glared down at it. "Come on, come on! Show me what I want to see!" Nothing. She snapped her eyes shut and gritted her teeth. At that moment, Ash walked in the room.

"Cynder?! What happened to you? And where's Spyro and Sparx?" Cynder's eyes shot open. Her eyes darted to the side, as she gazed upon the large red dragon.

"I don't have time for this Ash." She then responded, and turned her attention back to the small pool, glaring at it. Ash rudely stepped in front of her. She glanced upward, before pushing him aside with a paw. "Ash! I won't tell you again! Stay out of this!" She responded. Ash frowned.

"Jeez. Talk about getting the cold shoulder! And you're not even an ice dragon!" He replied, chuckling at his own attempt at a joke. His laughter died down as he was forcefully slammed against a wall. Cynder was standing in front of him. He gritted his teeth, standing up. "What gives, Cynder?! Just because you got bitten by a bitter bug doesn't mean you have to spread the attitude to the first person you see!"

Bitter bug?! Cynder was ready to slam her head into the wall after hearing that. But she remained in control and turned back to the pool of water. "Intense heat… intense heat… oh, Ancestors, show me the warmest place imaginable." She whispered shutting her eyes again. This time, the water began to glow a light shade of blue. Cynder felt the aura's warmth and opened her eyes. Slowly, she saw an image appearing in the pool…

…A volcano towering over a sea of lava. A giant black cloud was swirling above it, and lightning filled the skies. Platforms of molten rock surrounded the peak of the mighty inferno, as if some unknown magical force was suspending them in mid-air.

Cynder took in the image, studying it carefully. And then it had her. She hadn't the faintest clue what she was staring at. Sure, there was the active volcano, Boyzitbig, which towered over Munitions Forge; a land she knew all too well. But this place, she could almost feel the darkness gathering there. She shivered slightly and then whimpered. She had never felt such an immense amount of darkness gather in one place. It was as if Death itself was standing atop the volcano, ready to smite any foolish teenage dragon that dared to take one step toward the fiery land.

Slowly, the image vanished from the pool. Cynder felt like she was in some sort of trance. She was afraid and yet, her mind felt cleansed of such an emotion. The darkness, it beckoned to her. She was a creature of darkness and she felt it necessary to answer its call. She slowly turned to leave, when she bumped into Ash. She blinked for a moment.

"What was that?! Did you get a vision? Where are you going? I want answers!" And just like that, she snapped out of her trance. She stared at her red, male counterpart. "Well?" Cynder just pushed him to the side.

"I'm going out for some air." She lied. Ash stared at her, frowning. Cynder avoided making eye contact and trotted out the door. Ash stood there with a stupid look on his face. Finally, he turned around and dashed through the door.

"LEA! DRAKE! WHERE ARE YOU?!" He yelled, charging through a corridor.

* * *

_Good, I ditched him._ Cynder thought as she trotted through the Airu Forest. She didn't even have any clue why she was walking through this forest. The only thing guiding her was that feeling, that dark feeling. She stopped every so often, shivering, but that only told her she was on the right path. She loathed this power, this "sixth sent" of hers. All it ever did was get her into trouble. And it wasn't just mischievous trouble, no; all this sense ever did was lead her straight into conflicts she never seemed to win. So, why was she following this sense again?

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by an ear-splitting scream. Without thinking, Cynder dashed off in the direction of the scream. But as she neared what she thought was where the scream was heard, a blinding white light enveloped her and she tripped, tumbling out into an open field. She cursed, getting up and rubbing her snout.

"…Ha! You're kidding me right? This has to be some sort of dream!" The exclamation was the first thing that Cynder's mind registered. Suddenly, she bolted upright. She knew that arrogant, male voice from somewhere. "Well, well, you bounce back fast, kitten!" Cynder cursed much more loudly. Here? Now? Of all the places, HIM?! "Hey, you're hurting my sweet, sweet virgin ears with that tongue of yours!" Cynder glared at the man standing in front of him.

"Shut it, Utsuro… no… wait, Utsuro is not your _real_ name, is it?" She taunted. Utsuro frowned.

"What are you talking about? Boy, I must've had hit you harder than I thought, kitten." He replied, grinding his teeth. Cynder began trotting around him, smirking.

"Cut the 'kitten' act, big boy." She replied. Many days later, Cynder would recall the tone of her voice during this. It had that same naughty, malicious tone as it had when she was a servant of the Dark Master. But, for the time being, she paid it no attention. Utsuro, meanwhile, was now fidgeting with the hair covering the left side of his face. Realizing she was getting to him, Cynder continued. "What's a matter, 'kitten' got your tongue, big boy?" Cynder paused. "Wait a second; now that I think about it, you and I are about the same age. Isn't that right?" Now it was Utsuro who swore loudly as he slammed his sword against the ground. Cynder turned to face him. "I want to know why… why are you doing this…" Utsuro began to laugh.

"…Dagon?" Utsuro, or rather, Dagon erupted with laughter. Cynder's smirk turned into a full blown, evil smile. She knew she'd broken into his head. Dagon calmed down. He grabbed the hair draped over his face and gently brushed it backward. Cynder looked at Dagon, disgusted. His left eye was much larger than his right, and it was red. There was also a patch of red scales around the eye, and running up the left part of his forehead.

"How… how did you know?" He asked, his voice a mixture of laughter and shock. Cynder smirked again.

"In the heat of battle, you cannot truly expect something as flimsy as hair to stay in place, do you? Maybe those bleary-eyed spectators couldn't see it, but the dragoness standing about a yard away from you did." Dagon laughed again.

"I was always a strong swimmer. That old man, Atticus, he said that river had been charmed. He said if I was any slower grabbing onto a stalagmite at the base of the cliff, I would have been completely transformed. He said if that'd happened, I'd have retained no memory of being a dragon. So now, I'm stuck like this. I'm a hideous, incomplete human." He pulled his sword out of the ground. "And it's all your damn fault!" He yelled, pointing the blade at Cynder. She assumed a battle stance, but Dagon did not strike. "You and your stupid little boyfriend, were the nail and hammer in my coffin!"

"He's not my…!"

"Shut it!" Dagon yelled. "I don't want to hear anything out of those lips. You're lucky I decided to spare you back in Avalar. If that damn Spyro wasn't there, you wouldn't be here right now. I was in no condition to fight him after you had thrown me around like that, so I left." He gripped his sword tightly. "But now that we're alone, what say we finish what we started?" He was about to charge, when the ground started shaking, violently, throwing both Dagon and Cynder off their feet.

"What was that?!" Cynder cried, standing up. Dagon smirked.

"Why, it's our good friend, Atticus. He's been up at the peak of Mount Tsahrenji creating all these bizarre creatures with that book of his. Course I'm not one to complain, they were all a piece of cake! And their powers are even cooler!" Cynder remembered him mentioning back in Avalar that his sword was magical and could absorb enemies' attacks.

"What?! That's awful!" Cynder turned around to leave. "I have to stop him!" She exclaimed. Dagon laughed.

"You must have some sort of death wish, Cynder! You'll never make it!" Dagon taunted. Cynder shook her head.

"You don't understand, do you? The reason Atticus 'ditched' you was so that he could steal the tournament prize!" Dagon laughed again.

"Like I care about some stupid rock!" Cynder merely sighed.

"It's more than some stupid rock! All he has to do is expose it to intense heat, and it will show him the way to two valuable artifacts!"

"And I suppose you think those objects will make him more powerful?" Dagon replied. Cynder nodded. "Heh! As if. Well then, feel free to throw your miserable life away! It'll only make it easier for me to take down that purple traitor!" Cynder frowned.

"When I get back, I'm going to give you a beating so hard, your mutant little offspring will be feeling it!" She taunted as she launched herself into the air and flew toward the volcano. Dagon looked up and saw the storm clouds circling overhead, lightening violently flashing. He frowns.

"Damn it… now she's made me feel all guilty!" Dagon leaned his sword on his shoulder.

* * *

The smell of lava was thick in the air as the black dragoness blindly flew through the thick black smoke. She knew she had to be close to the top, the lightning in the sky was close enough to nearly hit her. Finally, she was able to make out the peak of the mighty volcano. She landed and surveyed her surroundings. A sea of lava stretched all the way through the valley. It was oozing, bubbling, and smoking. The worst part was the horrible stench. As she walked around the volcano, she found her head throbbing with pain and she could hardly breathe. However, she didn't have to wait much longer to find what she was looking for.

"You have my condolences. You really are as hard-headed and stubborn as they come." She was able to make out a tall outline through all the smoke. Atticus finally stepped forward. In one hand, he held his book, open. In the other, a white gem was brilliantly alive with light. She glared at Atticus. "I knew you couldn't resist it."

"So, you have been the one making all those dark creatures!" She hissed. Atticus chuckled.

"Me? A human who is novice in the use of all things magic? I'm ever-so-flattered that you would think that." He had the same warm smile that was always on his face. She hated that. Such a warm, gentle smile; and yet so much evil, so much malice lurks under his gentle aura. "Still, I condemn you for mustering up the courage to travel here. Unlike a certain purple dragon…"

"I was raised to embrace darkness. I'd be doing my conscience a great sin by _not_ coming." She began strolling around the wide face of the volcano. "Besides, I'd be missing out on all the fun if I did!" She taunted. An evil grin formed on Atticus's face.

"Then what say we roll out the welcome wagon? They're _dying_ to meet you!" Atticus's hands glowed, as did his gem and book. Suddenly, purple portals began to form around him. Out of them stepped black, shadowy creatures. They took on many forms. Some reminded Cynder of the Dark Armies she'd faced. Others took the form of giant, winged creatures with clawed feet. Others were just purple orbs, floating in front of her.

"Mors!" She gasped.

"I see someone's done their homework! But it'll take more than knowledge of their name to stop them. I know you've fought one… now try one hundred!" He turned to the swarm of Mors. "Don't just stand there like the incompetent fools you are, ATTACK!" He pointed at Cynder. The various creatures roared, screeched, and yelled as they advanced toward the black dragoness. Realizing she was outnumbered, they began to push her back toward the edge of the volcano face. Cynder gulped. Was this really the end? Had she led herself into a trap? Those thoughts quickly disappeared as an explosion of energy knocked Mors in every direction. "What is this?!" The smoke cleared and both Cynder and Atticus gasped at who was standing before them.

"What can I say, kitten? This cat just can't keep his claws off of you." Dagon doubled jumped next to the startled black dragoness.

"I don't know whether to be relieved that you're here or throw up." She said, rolling her eyes. The Mors suddenly turned their attention to the two of them and began advancing. Dagon rested his sword on his shoulder.

"Doesn't look like you're going to have time for either." He pointed his sword at an oncoming Mors and with incredible speed, severed it in half. "This one's for you, old man!" Dagon charged toward the crowd of shadow creatures, with Cynder following.

**To be continued!**


	5. Tricked

**I went to see family in Japan. It's my summer vacation. But I had plenty of time to think about this! I'd like to add that there are references to actual companies and objects that exist in real life (even though this is a fictional story), but that shouldn't be too weird considering there are humans in this story. Additionally, TMHB77's OC Austin makes his first appearance in this chapter. For those of you that don't know anything about Austin, check TMHB77's profile. **

**Spyro and respective characters copyright Sierra, Ash is copyright Mad Guns22, Austin is copyright TMHB77, and all OCs are copyright of myself.**

**Chapter 5: Tricked**

One by one the Mors continued to fall. Dagon and Cynder effortlessly defeated them. They all seemed pathetic and weak. One tried to copy Cynder, but ran out of strength and melted to the ground. Dagon, clearly becoming bored, held up his sword. The gem glowed as the blade transformed into a strange circular blade. With a flick of his wrist, the blade went flying, severing the shadow creatures in half. Like a boomerang, it returned back to him and transformed back into its normal form. Cynder used her wind breath and swept a large group of Mors into the volcano, destroying them instantly. She triumphantly trotted back in front of Atticus, who was frowning. "That was a feeble effort on your part. I've met Frogweeds stronger than your lame shadow creatures." Atticus flipped through the dragon spellbook.

"I don't understand. I did exactly as this book told me. There was no mistake in my spell." He replied, slamming the book shut.

"If you ask me, it's because you're _weak_." Cynder taunted. "After all, you are a 'novice magician,' am I right? Maybe you should stick to the simple spells. It would save you humiliation _and_ a beat down courtesy of yours truly." She bowed her head. Atticus found it very hard to remain calm; he clenched his fists to the point where his knuckles turned white. "And let's not forgot my friends. I don't think even Spyro has it in his heart to forgive you for your little 'show' back at the Dragon Temple. If I were you, I'd get the hell out of here before you're a smoldering pile of ashes." She spat. Dagon fought back the urge to laugh at the dragoness's insults. But to his surprise, Atticus started laughing. Cynder smirked, but then Atticus proceeded to speak.

"You think you're funny, huh? You think you've outwitted _me_?" He laughed again. "If it wasn't for those hideous things you call 'bracelets,' I doubt you'd have the confidence or the power to be standing here in front of me." Cynder hissed at him. "You want to know what I think?" He grabbed the spellbook in his left hand and the stolen gem in his right. "I think it's time to shut that mouth of yours up. I just need more power…" Without warning, he tossed the two items over the cliff and into the mouth of the volcano. Dagon froze with fear. A rush of anger suddenly boiled up within Cynder and she sprinted at Atticus, only to be flattened by a powerful downward blow from Atticus. "…and I know just where to get it from. Have fun with my pet, little lady." He bowed as a purple portal appeared behind him and he stepped through it. Cynder leaped to her feet as the ground began trembling. She turned around and noticed Dagon had vanished.

BOOM!

The volcano erupted, blowing lava everywhere. Cynder screamed as she took to the sky, barely dodging the massive wave of lava. When she turned to survey the volcano, she froze in midair as the lava began to gather above the volcano mouth. Suddenly, a giant snakelike tube of lava rushed out at Cynder. She flew upward; dodging it, but the lava made a sharp turn and began chasing after Cynder.

On the outskirts of the volcano, Ash could hear the high-pitched scream. He recognized it at once as Cynder's. He turned to Drake and Lea. "We have to help her! She's in trouble!" The other two nodded and the threesome took to the air. The arrived at the volcano in time to see the snakelike lava tube nearly reach Cynder. They could make out a giant mouth on the end preparing to engulf the dragoness. With a deep breath, Drake unleashed a torrent of ice breath. The lava creature roared in anger. Cynder flew over to them.

"How did you get here?!" Ash quickly grabbed Cynder and flew to the side as a giant fireball flew past where she was just floating. She turned to face him, panting. "You have to get out of here," she yelled, "it's not safe!" The lava creature roared again. The dragons covered their ears. The next thing they heard was a voice.

"I hope you all do be careful! My Magmapede really enjoys roughhousing, especially when she plays with dragons!" Ash recognized the voice as Atticus's. They all turned to face the Magmapede.

"Looks like it's up to us to take out ugly!" Lea exclaimed as the Magmapede roared again.

* * *

Spyro flew toward the temple as fast as his misshapen wings would carry him. He tried to fight back the thought that Cynder, fueled by rage, was chasing after the two humans. There was no way she'd stand a chance after taking the beating of a lifetime from the horrible human. He cringed at the thought of Atticus standing beside her unmoving body, wearing his usual demonic smile. And next to him, the strange Utsuro with his sword painted red and a smirk on his face. "NO!" he shouted as he snapped back to attention. Sparx was flying next to him. He gave his brother a puzzled expression.

"You okay, Spyro? Are those late nights getting to you again?! You know what…" Spyro gave Sparx his usual "I couldn't care less for your jokes" glare. Sparx just sighed and hovered ahead of the purple dragon. He squinted and could make out the temple in the distance. "Hey, oh mauve one, I see the temple up ahead! Remember to land legs-first this time!" Spyro glared at Sparx again and the dragonfly quickly sped ahead. Spyro could now see the outline of the temple. Suddenly Spyro saw a bright flash of orange out of the corner of his eye. He had no time to react as the massive fireball slammed into him, burning most of the right side of his body. He roared in pain as he plummeted to the ground. Sparx turned around just in time to see Spyro crash into the ground. He heard a snapping sound and quickly flew down to Spyro's side. "Spyro!" He whizzed around the smoking crater his brother's impact created. "You okay buddy? Come on, say something! I'm not fooling around this time!" A purple paw grabbed the ground and Spyro staggered out of the crater.

"What in the Ancestors' names was that?!" Spyro coughed. He was answered by an echoing laughter. His body tensed up and his nostrils flared when the black-haired man stepped out of the shadows. Gone was the sword; in its place was a flaming serpent's head where his left hand should have been. In a flash of light, however, the weapon reverted back into a sword. Dagon stuck it in the ground and leaned on it lazily.

"Well, well, look who finally decided to show his face. And here I thought I would need to look for you. But you came to me. It must be my lucky day!" Dagon lunged at Spyro and tried to slash the dragon with his sword, but he met only air. An ice shard struck him hard in the back, knocking him to the ground. Dagon swore loudly before back flipping onto his feet. He turned and faced Spyro.

"Get the hell out of here! You're going to pay for what you did to Cynder!" He spat. Sparx backed away from his brother, clearly scared silly.

"You know, I think I'll just sit this one out!" He cried as he hid behind a tree. Dagon laughed at Spyro.

"So revenge is the name of your game, huh? That's funny…" He grabbed the black hair draped in front of his face and through it back, revealing a patch of scales and a large, red eye. Spyro's eyes widened as he recognized the fiery glare it shot at him. "…cause revenge is at the top of my agenda too, you purple klutz!" Spyro had no time to react before Dagon's sword morphed into a circular blade and was thrown at him. Spyro dived into the ground as the blade skimmed the tip of his tail. Spyro bit his tongue as an intense wave of pain rushed through him. The blade returned to its owner and morphed back. Spyro quickly took the opportunity to shoot a polar bomb at his attacker, encasing him in a solid block of ice. Spyro charge forward and swooped up into Dagon's face. He grabbed Dagon with his front paws and flipped around. Dagon was flung behind Spyro into a rock, shattering the ice. The attack itself didn't seem to harm Dagon very much. But Dagon couldn't get back up on his feet.

"What the hell is your problem, Dagon?!" Spyro growled as he tried to comet dash the human. Dagon double jumped over him and delivered a powerful downward kick. He connected in the center of Spyro's back. Spyro let out a gasp and blood splattered onto the ground as the wind was knocked out of him. Dagon didn't let up for a moment. His sword transformed into two smaller, curved blades: scimitars. The lighter weight of the scimitars allowed Dagon to become more agile as he let loose a torrent of upward, downward and sideward slashes. Spyro tried his best to dodge the offensive volley but it was long before his entire chest was painted red. Dagon finished his torrent with a roundhouse kick straight into the side of Spyro's face. Spyro was left sprawled on the ground as the scimitars were replaced by Dagon's sword. He walked up to Spyro, who lay moaning on the ground.

"My problem is that you and your little girlfriend made me _into_ this hideous freak you're staring at! I trusted and you two and you stabbed me in the back… literally!" Spyro tried to open his mouth to protest, but Dagon kicked him. "I don't want to hear any of your lame excuses, whelp! I'm simply going to return the favor!" He yelled as he raised his sword. It was then that Spyro took action. In the blink of an eye everything around him froze as he quickly rose to his feet and grabbed Dagon once again. He stopped Dragon Time as he flew Dagon high into the air. Dagon's eyes widened in fear when he saw how high up the two of them were.

"You know what they say, Dagon," Spyro taunted, "it's always a long fall from the top!" But just as Spyro was about to release his grip, Dagon stabbed him in the leg with his sword. Dagon now grabbed Spyro and the two plummeted into a nearby river. Spyro tried to breath, but when the water filled his lungs his eyes widened. He thrashed about in a desperate attempt to get to the surface, only to have his head locked tight between Dagon's arms. Spyro's face began to turn pale as he thrashed about even harder. How could he let this happen? How could he have been so foolish?! He had let his guard down and now he was going to pay the ultimate price. His thoughts were racing about. He thought of his friends who were probably worried sick about him. He thought of the crazed human, Atticus. Without Spyro around, would Atticus's plans succeed? And he thought of Cynder. He could imagine the devastated look on her face when she saw his cold, unmoving body. No! He wasn't going to let that happen! He wasn't going to give in. At last all his anger toward his attacker released; and when his fire fury had finished, the two of them had been blown clear out of the water and rocketed into the air. Spyro steadied himself and glided to the ground. Dagon wasn't so fortunate; he landed on his arm and shattered the bone there.

He yelled and writhed on the ground in pain, grabbing his broken arm with his one good one. His sword fell down next to him, the blade slicing off a tip of his hair. Spyro stood there, panting heavily. Dagon scrambled to his feet, grabbed his sword and fled to the safety of the forest. Spyro let out a heavy sigh of relief, before he began limping in the direction of the temple.

* * *

The mighty serpent head of the Magmapede belched out an enormous fireball. "SCATTER!" Cynder cried as the four dragons branched out in different directions to dodge the attack. Cynder felt the heat of the fireball brush against her. She gulped; her wings were still badly damaged from her fight with Dagon. If anything happened to them, she'd plummet to her death in the boiling lava below. She saw Ash snaking toward the Magmapede so as to confuse it. The Magmapede prepared to hurl another fireball, when another wave of ice breath hit it in the back. The Magmapede coiled its head around in time to see Drake launch a polar bomb straight into the mouth of the lava serpent. The lava serpent let out an awful cry of pain before a column of flames shot out of the Magmapede and hit Drake square in the chest. Drake was rocketed backward and his chest was set ablaze by the intense heat. Ash appeared on the other side of the Magmapede. A dark aura surrounded him as he shot an acid ray at the Magmapede. The dark purple and black ray hit the Magmapede, who turned around and charged at the red dragon in response. Ash quickly barrel rolled to the side, barely missing the mouth of the Magmapede. But he was caught off guard when the tail end of the Magmapede coiled around and swatted him like he was a fly. Ash spiraled backward, colliding with Lea in the process.

"Watch where you're going, Ash! You burnt my tail!" Lea growled as she looked at her black, smoking tail. She turned to face the Magmapede, who was now chasing after Cynder and Drake. She rushed at it and slammed its underside with a powerful earth flail. "That's for my tail, you ugly slimeball!" She growled. The Magmapede turned to face her and she squealed as it began giving chase. Seeing this, Cynder turned and chased the serpent. She inhaled and let out a powerful blast of wind breath. It hit the Magmapede… hard. The Magmapede screamed as it spiraled down into the depths of the lava. Lea, Drake and Ash began to cheer with joy over their apparent victory. Their cheers soon died down, as the lava pit began to boil.

"Oh no! I think we just made things even worse!" Cynder cried and the pit exploded, sending lava in all directions. Hundreds of trees were in the line of fire and were burnt to mere ashes. The Magmapede, now twice as large, screeched as pillars of fire shot out of it in every direction. The four dragons panicked and began to scramble in every direction. The columns of white fire destroyed everything in their path: grass, trees, and small helpless bugs that had the misfortune of flying near the volcano. Cynder, exhausted from all the fighting, was finally struck hard in the underbelly. Her scales were instantly incinerated and she let out a cry of pain that made the Magmapede's screeching seem soft. Seeing what happened, Drake flew over and grabbed Cynder. He flew her to the outskirts of the nearby forest and dropped her. As he turned to leave he could see tears forming in her pain-filled eyes. He turned to face the lava serpent with newfound rage. He charged at it, a blue aura surrounding him. The Magmapede screeched again and charge at Drake. It opened its mighty maw and Drake flew straight into it. Ash and Lea gasped. The Magmapede screeched in triumph.

"No! Drake!" Lea cried. Ash floated there dumbstruck. He just saw the blue ice dragon intentionally fly into the mighty fire serpent. Suddenly, the Magmapede screeched again. Its red and orange color shifted to a light blue and white color. The Magmapede whimpered as its entire body began to freeze. It screeched one last time, but was cut off when the mouth finally froze. The giant ice cube then exploded and Lea and Ash's startled expressions turned to expressions of joy as Drake flew back to them. Lea embraced the blue ice dragon while Ash patted him on the back.

"That was pretty crazy. That was almost a stunt worthy of well… me." He exclaimed. Drake just rolled his eyes. "Say," Ash looked around, "where's Cynder?" Drake explained to them how Cynder took one of the Magmapede's fire pillars straight in the underbelly.

"I left her on the edge of the forest. We should go check on her." He said. The other two nodded in unison and the three dragons flew down to the black dragoness. Lea cautiously approached her. Cynder's back was turned to her.

"Cynder, are you okay?" She didn't respond. "It's okay Cynder; you're with your friends now!" Lea heard a whimper. She bent down and stroked Cynder's back. "Come on, Cynder. We should really be heading back to the temple. Ignitus is probably worried sick about us!" Finally Cynder turned and faced Lea. Cynder's face looked flushed and she collapsed into an unconscious heap in front of the green dragoness. Lea turned and gave Drake and Ash a silent nod. The three of them scooped the black dragoness up and began to fly back to the temple.

* * *

"Oh no! What in the Ancestors' names happened here?!" Spyro gasped as he looked at the entrance to the temple. The entire front wall had been blown up, and the balcony had fallen with it. Spyro flew into the training room, only to see Volteer the electric guardian unconscious on the ground beside the statue of the Dark Master. Sparx flew in after Spyro and looked around.

"Hmmm. I'm not really much of an architect, but I dig this lovely panoramic view of the outdoors. It really lightens this gloomy place up! You get it, right Spyro?" Spyro swatted the dragonfly away with his tail.

"Can you please just be serious for once?! Someone's obviously raided the temple!" Spyro growled. Sparx and Spyro stared at each other for what seemed like several minutes. Spyro finally looked away. "I'm sorry; these last few days are really taking a toll on me…" He whispered.

"Yeah, well you're not the only one, bro." He pointed behind him just as Ash, Lea and Drake landed. They gently lowered Cynder onto the ground. The threesome looked around, astonished.

"What the hell happened here?!" Ash growled. He walked forward and saw Spyro standing there. "And what happened to you? You look like something the Wild Hound dragged in." Spyro turned around to face Ash.

"I _feel_ like something the Wild Hound dragged in. I ran into that awful human who hurt Cynder in Avalar and ambushed the two of us last night, Dagon." Spyro replied. Ash's eyes widened.

"Isn't Dagon the name of that dragon that fell to his death?" Ash asked, clearly puzzled. Spyro nodded.

"I _thought_ he was dead. That river must've transformed him or something. And he's blaming me and Cynder for what happened!" Spyro grumbled in response. "But it wasn't us! It was Phantom! I tried telling him but he refused to believe me." Ash just shrugged. "He tried to _drown_ me, Ash! This whole 'human' situation is getting way out of hand and we have to stop it now." Spyro looked over the red dragon's shoulder and saw Cynder. "What happened to her?"

"She showed at the temple all beat up and really pissed. She must've seen something in the Pool of Visions because she took off for this humongous volcano. Lea, Drake and I followed her, only to see Atticus create this giant serpent out of lava! We fought it as hard as we could, but Cynder took a nasty blow from one of the Magmapede's attacks. She was knocked out so we had to carry her back here!" As Ash finished his explanation, the wall behind Spyro exploded, sending debris everywhere. When the smoke cleared, Spyro and Ash gasped as they saw Atticus throw Ignitus to the ground. Standing next to him was a dark purple and black colored Spyro. "Hey, it's you!" He exclaimed, turning to face the real Spyro.

"_That's_ Phantom." Spyro hissed as Lea and Drake ran over to join them. Phantom noticed the foursome and laughed.

"Well, well, if it isn't the hatchling brigade! Pity, though; you're a bit late." He sneered. Spyro tried to lunge at his doppelganger, but was violently shocked and knocked to the ground. Lea stuck out a paw only to meet the same fate as Spyro. Atticus stood there, his left hand pointed at them and glowing blue.

"I'm afraid I'm going have to ask you all to stop what you're doing. I can't have you interrupt my peaceful conversation with the fire guardian now can I?" He turned to face Ignitus, who slowly to his feet only to be knocked down again by Phantom. "You do not stand in the presence of your future ruler." He kneeled down in front of Ignitus's face and his right hand glowed purple. "Now tell me, where is it?" Ignitus looked up at the human with a puzzled expression.

"I do not know of what you speak!" The fire guardian rasped. Atticus's smile disappeared and was replaced with a look of pure impatience.

"Lies!" Atticus bellowed as he blasted Ignitus with a purple energy ball. "You know where the dark gem is! And you know where the spell book is!" He walked over to Ignitus. "You can tell me and your death will be quick and painless or Phantom will see to it that your death is slow and agonizing; it's your decision." Ignitus looked at the human with fear-filled eyes.

"Fortuna… the ruins," he coughed, "on the outskirts of Avalar. It is in the only building still standing…" Atticus wore his warm smile once again.

"I knew you'd make the right decision. Thank you for your time and have a pleasant afterlife." A spear of purple energy formed in Atticus's right hand. He raised it to finish the fire guardian when a black blur rammed into him. Atticus gasped as he was slammed into a wall. He staggered to his feet to see Cynder facing him.

"You don't belong here, human filth! Leave at once!" She flared her wings out, the two blades sparkling in the light of the sun. Phantom stood there dumbstruck as Atticus frowned at him. He brushed the dust off his robes.

"Fine, but not before I leave with my _other_ prize!" Atticus snapped his fingers. The forcefield around Spyro, Drake, Ash and Lea disappeared. A new blue forcefield popped up next to Atticus. It was ten times larger than the previous one and inside it were hundreds of sparkling blue crystals. Lea gasped in astonishment.

"He's going to swipe our spirit gems! Someone do something!" Ash and Spyro nodded and charged at Atticus, only to be steamrolled by a massive black fireball from Phantom. Atticus nodded to his counterpart and Phantom blasted another fireball, blowing open the wall across from them. Phantom dashed out of it. Atticus quickly turned around and yelled at the dragons.

"The time is coming! Your magic will be mine and the humans will be free to rule this land as they did many millenniums ago!" He laughed as he ran into the forest. Lea and Spyro went over and helped Ignitus to his feet. Ash slammed a piece of rubble with his tail.

"When are they _not_ going to get away?!" He growled.

"Are you okay, Ignitus?" Lea asked. Ignitus nodded.

"Yes, young ones, but I'm afraid we all might be treading in dangerous waters." Cynder walked over to Ignitus.

"What exactly did he want? What are the dark gem and the spell book of which he speaks?" She asked.

"I must confess something to you all. Atticus is right that humans had once ruled these lands thousands of years ago. But one day our mighty Ancestors took their first steps in this land. The humans were greatly worried by the immense power of our Ancestors. They tried to eliminate them. The Ancestors prepared to defend themselves. But a battle would never come. One of our Ancestors was a powerful spell caster. One day he managed to dabble in a new, more powerful type of magic: dark magic. With one mighty spell he made every trace of the humans vanish from this world. No one knows precisely how he did it and to this today we consider it a miracle. But when the other Ancestors found about this they imprisoned this dragon. Determined not to let dark magic be lost forever, the dragon recorded his discoveries in a spell book. The other Ancestors drained this dragon of his power using a spirit gem. The dragon's dark energy overpowered the light energy of the spirit gem however, and it became a dark gem. The Ancestors then hid the gem in the ruins of a human city. But the other dragon began to look for it, carrying his spell book with him." Ignitus took a deep breath.

"After nearly a year of searching, he at last found it. A great battle ensued, with the Ancestors emerging victorious. Using the dragon's own spell book, they sealed him within a demonic realm created entirely by dark energy: the Dark Realm. The dragon was a black dragon; he was the very first dark dragon. As the dragon learned dark magic his fire turned from the normal orange color to a shadowy black and he learned to control elements that a normal dragon could never use. It appears Atticus is after the raw power stored within that gem and the spell book that is the key to using this power. As to why he took our spirit gems, I am absolutely baffled." The five dragons were taken aback by the fire guardians' story.

"Does that mean I'm descended from this dragon?" Cynder asked, horrified at the thought of being like that dragon.

"It is hard to say. It was the Dark Master who had exposed you to dark energy all those years ago. Had that not happened you may have just been like any other dragon." He replied. Now it was Ash who spoke up.

"So why are we standing here? Let's go out there and show that idiot human we're a force to be reckoned with!" His nostrils flared up. Spyro nodded.

"Right, we can't let Atticus get the dark gem or the spell book. We have to hurry though; we've got no time to lose!" They turned to leave but Sparx flew in front of them.

"Listen, I know that we don't have a lot of time and that we have to stop Atticus and bla, bla, bla, but I don't think it would be smart to charge into battle with all those injuries. I don't even think the mauve one would last a minute if he's been weakened in battle." Sparx folded his arms and stared at them all disapprovingly. Lea looked at the other four dragons and nodded.

"He's right, you know. Cynder, you look awful, and the same goes for you, Spyro! You can't go face Atticus like this!" Spyro sighed and nodded.

"Alright, just give us one moment." Spyro walked into the next room with Cynder and Ash following. Sparx stared at Lea in astonishment.

"Wait, _I_ was right?! Woah I think this is a momentous occasion! This is a cause for celebration…!"

"…we get it! You're just killing the joke, now." Spyro retorted. His body was completely healed and all the melted scales were completely back to normal. The same could be said for Cynder and Ash. "Alright, are you guys ready?" They all nodded. "Come on! Let's show this human why he doesn't belong here!" The other dragons cheered as they all took off into the sky.

"Great, plunging headfirst into unknown danger. I deeply regret wishing for another adventure now." Sparx sighed as he flew after the dragons.

* * *

Three men stood facing each other in a hallway. The man on the left was nearly seven feet tall. He had a large, muscular body with big, brooding shoulders. He was dark skinned and completely bald. He had even completely shaved his eyebrows. There was a tattoo of a dragon stretched across the left side of his bald head. The tail of the dragon curved around his ear while the mouth curved around his eye. He wore two silver earrings in each ear. His body also had many dragon tattoos, but they were all hidden under the black blazer he was wearing. He also wore a blood red dress shirt, opened at the neck and navy pants. He had on a pair of Armani designer sunglasses, tinted navy blue. He spoke to the two men across from him in a heavy mid-European accent. "You wished to speak with me, gentlemen?" The last word seemed to sound more like "chintlemen."

The first man on the other side answered in a heavy French accent. "Atticus has sent us a shipment of these strange crystals. He claims they're a source of the dragons' magical energy. He also said he still has most of the crystals, but will hold on to them until further notice." The Frenchmen pulled out a folder from inside his jacket pocket and handed it to the dark man. "This is the debriefing folder from this morning's meeting. I must ask why you were not there Mr. Vulcan." Vulcan looked back at the Frenchmen.

"I was tending to Mr. Atticus's daughter, Mr. Lafayette. She seems to have gotten the flu. Her fever is nearing 104 degrees." The third man, who was much shorter than the other two and hunched over grunted. Lafayette turned to him.

"Is there anything you would like to say, Dr. Ivan?" Dr. Ivan nodded. He spoke in an accent that seemed to be a mix between German and Russian.

"If you don't mind me asking, Herr Vulcan, why not have had Herr de Clarke tend to him?" Vulcan glared at Dr. Ivan.

"You should know by know that de Clarke works for Mr. Seymour. Every day I have sensed the man becoming more suspicious of Mr. Atticus's actions. I wouldn't be surprised if he already knows about our organization." Vulcan exclaimed. Lafayette nodded.

"He has been acting a little weird lately. Yesterday I think I saw him try to follow me to Dr. Ivan's laboratory." Lafayette blew his nose using a handkerchief neatly poking out of his jacket's front pocket. "Regardless, it appears Mr. Atticus's mission in the Dragon Realms is nearing completion."

"And my energy conversion device is also nearly finished, Herr Lafayette. We should have a way to utilize the dragons' energy within the next week." Dr. Ivan added.

"Well done, doctor." Vulcan acknowledged the man with a brief nod. "If you excuse me, gentlemen, I must be returning to Elise's room." He turned and left. The other two men walked the other way.

* * *

"Dragons?" The human asked himself when the three men were safely out of sight. He had brown hair, brown eyes and healthy, tan skin. He was wearing an orange t-shirt, green cargo pants and sneakers. He also had a backpack on. He had come to the Legion, Inc. headquarters to visit a relative but had gotten lost on his way through the building. He had stopped and found a spot to hide when he heard Vulcan, Mr. Lafayette and Dr. Ivan's conversation. And now his curiosity had been aroused. He turned the corner to follow Mr. Lafayette when his cell phone went off. "Hello?" He asked as he opened it. A female voice answered.

"Austin? Where are you? I thought you'd be here by now." The female said.

"My flight had gotten delayed," he lied, "I should be there in about an hour. Later!" He hung up. He figured an hour would be enough time to see what the two men were up to. He jogged down the hallway until at last he saw the back of Mr. Lafayette's head. He saw Lafayette lean against the wall, causing it to open up. When the two disappeared behind the wall and the wall closed, Austin walked up to it and leaned against it. The wall slid open and Austin walked into a room with three elevators. The outer two showed the floor he was currently on: "E" for entrance level. The middle elevator read "-3." Austin pressed the call button and stepped into the left elevator. He looked at the different levels.

E: entrance level, access to Legion, Inc. building

-1: Legion Underground, conference room

-2: Legion Underground, data processing center

-3: Legion Underground, laboratory

Upon seeing the fourth option, he pressed and the elevator started downward. It stopped after a couple of minutes and the door opened. He stepped into an empty laboratory. He looked around and saw computers, test tubes and large chambers filled with strange liquids. In another corner he saw a pile of glowing blue crystals sealed within a glass case. They were being analyzed by a computer on the left of them. His attention was instantly snagged by the largest thing in the room: a swirling vortex of blue and white. He walked toward it, mesmerized. It was then that he stumbled over one of the unusually large cables. Austin gasped and cried out as the vortex sucked him in. He closed his eyes and braced himself for what would happen next.

**Sorry about the length, I guess I like writing long chapters. To be continued!**


	6. Darkness Rising

**Right, so here's the next chapter. Not much else to say this time around except that I'm thinking about making a sequel. If you'd like to see a sequel, please review saying so! **

**Spyro and respective characters copyright Sierra, the Blades are copyright Capcom Co., Ash is copyright Mad Guns22, Austin is copyright TMHB77, and all OCs are copyright of myself. Also, this chapter references several non-fictional places, items, events, etc. I realize there's a warning against this type of content so please don't take this story down!**

**Chapter 6- Darkness Rising **

Austin tumbled through the swirling vortex. He had no idea what was about to happen. Might this lead to the place where the dragons Lafayette was talking about? Austin shuddered at the thought of staring at one of those gigantic creatures. They would probably rip him to shreds. Especially if that Atticus guy had stolen the dragons' most prized possession: their gems. He suddenly slammed against something cold… and hard. He realized he'd landed in the middle of a field. He stood up and looked around. All around him were the remains of buildings. The sky was completely black as a storm cloud appeared overhead. In front of him was the inside of a church. He saw a large circular pedestal, surrounded by decaying benches. Statues of gargoyles were toppled over and many were missing parts and facial features. "What is this place?" Austin asked himself as he stared in awe. Suddenly, a rustling noise from behind startled him.

"Oh no! Someone's already here!" A female voice cried. Scared stiff, Austin turned around to see five dragons staring at him. However, they all appeared to be young teenagers. They didn't look much older than 15 or 16.

"Wait," the purple dragon stepped forward, "this isn't Atticus or Dagon." The black dragoness next to him nodded.

"Spyro's right." She took another step toward Austin. Austin stepped away from her, afraid of what she might do. "So, who are you?" She asked. Austin tensed up slightly.

"My name's Austin." He stuttered. "I ended up here by accident. I tripped and fell through a portal in the human world." The red dragon stepped forward now.

"Hold up a minute. There's a portal linking the humans' domain to our world?" He asked. "I don't want any humans storming this place!" The green dragoness sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Ash, if you actually paid attention during some of Volteer's lectures you'd know there are portals liking all the different worlds. The humans must've opened theirs by accident." She said. She turned to face Austin. "You seem much different then the other two humans we've met. I'm Lea." Austin eased up a bit.

"Nice to meet you…" He extended out a hand. Lea looked at it, puzzled. "You're supposed to shake it." He added. Lea extended one of her paws and shook Austin's hand. "You know, I always heard in the stories that dragons were giant, ferocious monsters! But, uh…"

"We're not exactly that old yet." Spyro commented. Austin stared at him for a second then snapped his fingers.

"I see it now; you guys look like the 'dragon equivalent' of a human teenager. Don't bother asking what it means because I _really_ don't feel like explaining it." Spyro shrugged.

"Fair enough; I suppose I'll let everyone else introduce themselves."

"Hey, I'm Drake." The fifth dragon, a blue one finally spoke up. Austin nodded. "Ash is the red dragon, Cynder's the black dragon and Spyro's the purple dragon."

"I've never heard of a purple dragon. I have to say that's an odd color." Spyro just rolled his eyes in response. A gold dragonfly flew up in front of Austin's face.

"See? This guy agrees with me! Purple is a strange color." Austin swatted Sparx away. Sparx pouted and crossed his arms. "Come on! You don't even know me yet and you're acting like they all do." Sparx whined. As he finished his sentence, the conversation was interrupted when the ruins of the church behind Austin blew up. The seven of them ran away from the explosion yelling in panic. When the dust settled, the five dragons gasped as the familiar, white-haired human stood before them. In his left hand, he held a black, pulsing crystal. In his right was a black and red book. Next to him was Phantom, smirking at the five of them.

"You're too late… again!" Atticus yelled in triumph. He turned to see Austin staring at him. Austin's face was completely flushed and he was frozen with fear. "You; you do not work for me. How did you get here?" Austin stayed absolutely silent. Suddenly he reached into his backpack and pulled out a pistol. He pointed it at Atticus. The five dragons stared at the weapon as if they'd never seen anything like it before.

"S-S-Stay back!" Austin yelled. "I'll shoot! I will!" Atticus cocked an eyebrow in surprise.

"You dare to raise a gun in my presence?" He stared at Austin. "You're friendly with them, aren't you? The dragons, I mean." He put on another one of his warm smiles and faced the five dragons. "I'm afraid acquiring a human ally will not help your predicament. The time has come to welcome the chaos of the Dark Realm and bid farewell to your precious powers." Atticus forcefully stabbed his shoulder with the dark gem. He screamed as the gem radiated brightly; the power began to flow into Atticus. "Yes! Yes! I fell the dark dragon's power coursing through my body!" The dark gem suddenly shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces. The light vanished and Atticus was now surrounded by a demonic black and red aura. His clothing had changed to a black and red color. His hair and eyes were now also blood red. Phantom's eyes widened as he noticed the change in his master's appearance. Atticus spoke, but his voice was now a deep growl. "I think that five against two is hardly fair at all."

"Hey! I'm important too!" Austin yelled out. Even if this was a life-or-death situation, he didn't want to be neglected.

"Now you know how I feel." Sparx added, folding his arms and rolling his eyes.

"SILENCE!" Atticus roared. His hands started to glow a demonic red color and he fired a black beam at Lea. It hit her square in the face. She screamed as her green scales were tinted black and the same red and black aura around Atticus appeared around her. She suddenly grew to twice her size and now towered over the other dragons. Drake took a step toward her.

"Lea? Please fight his attack! Don't give into…" An earth shot blasted Drake into a large rock. Lea laughed and walked over next to Atticus.

"Silly children, it seems like someone needs to teach you a little respect. I'll gladly do that… the hard way!" She flared her much larger wingspan for all of them to see. Spyro turned to Atticus and glared at him.

"You think you can get away with this. This is where I draw the line!" Spyro roared and charged at Atticus only to be steamrolled by a wave of black energy. Atticus vanished and reappeared behind Drake. He grabbed the blue ice dragon by the tail and with incredible strength threw him into the same rock. Cynder used her fear breath to grab Atticus and slam him against Phantom. The two collided and rolled into a nearby bush. A pillar of black fire incinerated the shrubbery around Atticus and he quickly teleported in front of Lea.

"Don't just stand there, girl, attack them!" Lea's nostrils flared up in response as she generated an earth flail and slammed into Cynder. The wind was knocked out of the black dragoness as she hit the ground with a loud thud. She slowly got to her feet and glared at the green and black dragoness. She began to charge a black fireball in her mouth. Lea charged up an earth bomb. The two dragonesses simultaneously launched their attacks. The two energy balls collided in mid air as an explosion of flames and whirlwinds rocked both dragonesses. They each seemed relatively unaffected, however as they began to charge up again. Lea released her earth bomb while Cynder released an arc of wind energy. Again the two attacks collided in midair and again a massive explosion rocked the battlefield.

BOOM!

Spyro was blown sky high by a large black energy ball from Atticus. Spyro steadied himself and rained fireballs down on Atticus from his position in the air. Atticus summoned a black vortex which sucked the fireballs in. He snapped his left fingers and the vortex spat the fireballs back at the purple dragon. Spyro yelped as he dived for the safety of the ground, barely missing the first fireball. Using his momentum, Spyro charged up an electric orb in his maw. When he hit the ground, he was forcefully sucked into the orb. He smirked as he began to roll the giant energy ball at Atticus. The human had no time to react as Spyro flattened him. Atticus was paralyzed by the attack allowed Ash to discharge a huge wave of orange flames. Atticus was thrown back by the power of Ash's fire breath. Ash triumphantly smirked, only to be tackled to the ground by Phantom.

"It's like I always say, you got to fight fire with more fire!" Phantom opened his mouth and unloaded a massive stream of purple fire from point-blank range.

"DAMN YOU!" Ash roared as the powerful flames collided with his face and chest, thoroughly burning him. Ash reared back and through all the fire managed to shoot the powerful dark vacuum wave at Phantom. Phantom screamed in pain as he was blasted several yards away from Ash. Ash leaped to his feet and turned his attention to Lea. A third massive explosion rocked the field as Cynder's poisonous energy made contact with Lea's earth flail. Austin watched in astonishment as the different fighters were blown clear of one another. "Clearly this whole close combat thing isn't working!" Ash yelled as he began to charge up a fireball. Atticus noticed this and began to charge energy as well with Phantom and Lea following him.

"This can't end well…" Sparx said as he covered his eyes. Austin overhead the dragonfly and dove for the safety of a large ditch in the ground behind a rock.

* * *

"My brother is a royal fool. I'll be most pleased if he pays for this mistake with his life." The man staring at the plasma screen TV showing the battle between the dragons and their human adversary frowned. The man was tall and thin with cold gray eyes and black hair that stretched down to his shoulder blades. His hair was beginning to show signs of graying and his face was weary and tired. He must have easily been in his mid fifties. He was dressed in a blue polo shirt and khakis and dress shoes. The one out of place item was the fine, brown leather gloves on his hands. They were there because of the man's arthritis, but couldn't look more stupid with his casual attire. But the man did not normally dress this way. He was almost always in formal business attire. But today was different. The man had gone golfing with the British Prime Minister that afternoon and felt it unnecessary to take time out of his day to change back.

"It is your move Mr. Seymour, sir." The elderly man sitting across from Seymour exclaimed. Seymour turned his attention away from the television, took a sip of the vodka he was drinking, and stared at the chess board in front of him. His mind instantly began to calculate the various moves he could do and eliminated them instantly. Seymour was known for his sharp intellect and how it ran like clockwork.

"I just don't believe it, William." He was speaking to his close friend and personal butler, William de Clarke. "The things a man will do out of jealously. I never thought my brother would be that jealous. I mean, I was a tad suspicious when Bob Spitz was assassinated, and a huge influx of cash showed up in his Swiss Bank account… but I always thought it was just a coincidence." Seymour shook his head.

"To be honest, sir, I pretty much knew it was him when Dr. Ivan Krakarov had been bailed out of prison for the same amount of money that had disappeared from Mr. Atticus's account the previous day." Seymour finished off his beverage and set the glass down.

"It doesn't really matter. Thanks to that silly boy we now know where to find Atticus's base of operations. The fact that he has discovered this new realm provides a window of opportunity. We could harness the magic in that realm and create pure, raw energy from it. The leaders of every country in the world would be on their knees begging for access to our pollutant-free energy. All we have to do is wait for my brother's mission to fail and then we'll turn his operation in an entirely new direction. And with the help of Michel Lafayette and Dr. Krakarov it will be almost as easy as this…" Seymour moved his queen. "…check mate." De Clarke stared at the chess board and then back at Seymour.

"That was only 5 moves, sir. Well done!" Seymour nodded and began to put the chess set away when his intercom went off. He pressed a button and a female voice appeared on the other line.

"A Dr. Marion Kennedy and a Professor Jessica Wei to see you, sir." Seymour's face grew serious as his secretary mentioned the head and deputy head of Legion's research and development department. Putting on his usual serious face he attended to business with, he pressed the call button.

"Show them in." Seconds later, the electronic door slid open and two women walked into the room. The one on the left was medium-height and thin with brown hair and eyes. She had thin, wire-trimmed glasses on. The second women was only slightly shorter than Seymour with black eyes like a hawk and jet black hair. She immediately slammed a file on Seymour's desk. "What is it, Jessica?" Seymour asked the deputy head of the RDD.

"It's your brother's crazy plan to try and restore the glaciers of Alaska to a more normal size. We cannot go through with it, sir! He plans to use several chemicals that will harm the glaciers' surrounding environments. We'd be breaking a handful of laws and we'd have Greenpeace and the EPA at our necks!" Seymour sighed.

"As much as I would love to mop the floor with Atticus's stupid glacier proposal I alone do not have the jurisdiction to do that. We need a majority vote of the executive board to topple the proposal. But I'm sure they'd all vote to topple it." Professor Wei was not satisfied by the response, but her boss put a hand on her should and she calmed down.

"Very well… I trust you'll have them convene soon?" Seymour nodded and the two women left the room. Seymour yawned and poured himself an ice coffee. It was already late and he had not gotten a lot of sleep ever since Atticus had been meddling with dragons. The lack of sleep was beginning to take its toll. Suddenly, the doors slid open again. Seymour managed a slight smile as he saw the man in front of him. The Armani sunglasses were neatly tucked in his coat pocket and Vulcan was carrying a gym bag in one hand.

"I trust it went well?" Vulcan nodded.

"I must tell you that Atticus replaced his normal security detail with U.S. Marshalls. He's really trying hard to keep his operation under wraps." Vulcan produced a stack of files from within his coat. "Here are the dossiers on the dragons that you had requested, sir." He placed them in front of Seymour. The top one was labeled in "Courier New" computer text: SPYRO. It had "CLASSIFIED" stamped in bold, red letters under the text. Seymour opened the folder to the first page. It showed an image of the purple dragon as well as basic information on him such as his approximate height and weight. Seymour closed the file.

"I shall save these for another day." He locked them within a safe under his desk and immediately put in a different combination to lock the safe. That was the thing about Seymour and Vulcan. Seeing as both men had years of military experience behind them, they new that it was habits that would one day kill a man. The two men always were extra cautious about everything they did. Seymour, for example would never drive the same route to his favorite restaurant more that once. He had at least six or seven routes he cycled between randomly. Vulcan never used the same corridors or elevator in the Legion building more than once.

"Pardon me, but what shall we do now that you have the dossiers?" Seymour snapped back to attention. He snapped his fingers and de Clarke brought Seymour his walking stick. The slick, well-polished black walking stick had a silver dragon spiraling around it. The dragon's head was at the top of the stick, with the mouth open as if to hold something in place. Seymour had just had the walking stick flown in for him this morning. He needed a walking stick ever since he was shot twice in the knee, a tragedy which ended his military career.

"It's time we visit our two friends Michel and Ivan. It looks like Atticus's operation will be coming to a close soon anyway." Seymour limped out of the room with Vulcan and de Clarke following.

* * *

"121… 122… 123… 124… 125… all present and accounted for." Lafayette sighed. It was late at night and all he wanted to do was get some sleep. Instead he had to guard these stupid glowing crystals with Dr. Ivan. "I wonder how many of these gems Atticus is still holding on to." Lafayette muttered. At that moment, the electronic door behind them slid open.

"Nobody move an inch or I'll shoot." Upon recognizing the voice, the two startled men turned to see Vulcan pointing an M16 assault rifle at them.

"What are you doing you traitor?" Dr. Ivan stuttered. Seymour then stepped out from behind him.

"Working for me; I had hired him long before my foolish brother did." He stared at the laboratory. "Nice place you have here." He turned back to the two men. "Gentlemen, you will be working for me now. Don't protest, I'm willing to offer you each 2.5 million in return for your services."

"What do you want us to do?" Lafayette asked.

"I'll tell you…"

* * *

The massive explosion shook the ruins. All of the different breath and energy attacks collided into one massive explosion of raw energy. It blew every fighter clear in opposite directions. Atticus was the first to get up and seemed relatively unaffected by the attack. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. You're going to have to think of something a little different. I was expecting better from you all." Atticus then heard a bang and merely stuck a glowing hand in front of him. The bullet hit Atticus's barrier and fell to the ground, useless. Atticus turned to face Austin. "A sneak attack, that's very resourceful of you. But it's my turn now." Atticus shot an energy ball to the ground and a chain of energy emerged from the ground and headed strait for Austin. Austin dived behind the energy chain as Spyro came to his aid and froze the energy with his ice breath.

Lea had been hit worst by the explosion. Through ill luck she happened to be standing the closest and the attack tore through the entire left side of her. She was sprawled on the ground breathing heavily. It looked like Atticus's spell also vanished as she had returned to normal size. Cynder and Ash ran over and quickly examined her. Cynder saw her chest moving up and down, which was a good thing. But they both knew they'd need to find red healing gems and fast. Their attention was quickly drawn back to the battle when a large purple fireball blasted Ash in the back. Ash stumbled over Lea and rolled into a tree. Cynder turned to see Phantom only as he released another fireball. Cynder dodged it gracefully which only seemed to make Phantom angrier. Phantom sent two more fireballs at her, only to have them dodged with another graceful leap in the air. Phantom stomped the ground in anger and charged Cynder. That was exactly what she wanted. She smirked as she swooped down from the air and grabbed him with her talons. She threw him upward and continued to do so using her bladed tail. Phantom swore as he was tossed around like a rag.

She was able to do this for quite awhile until a column of energy erupted from the ground and blew her sky high. Phantom landed on the ground with a thud while Cynder steadied herself and glided to the ground, launching a fireball at Atticus in the process. Atticus was too preoccupied with dodging Spyro's earth flail to notice the fireball and was struck square in the back. He grunted and scampered away from the purple dragon. "This isn't working. I'm outnumbered and my partner couldn't fight to save his life. I need to finish this now!" A red vortex opened over Atticus's head. Suddenly, rows of energy balls began flying out. They were moving super fast and the dragons had little time to leap over the first row. The second row came in higher, however and exploded when it made contact with the dragons. The next five rows of energy balls did the same thing and before long Ash and Drake had both been knocked into the branches of nearby trees while Cynder and Spyro were still standing, facing Atticus. "Oh ho! Still standing I see. Maybe this will do you some good!" A strange red blade formed in Atticus's hand. The blade was suddenly lit ablaze by red and black flames. Atticus dived at the Spyro and Cynder. The outstretched blade incinerated the land within his path and he struck the two dragons square in the face. They slammed into each other and Atticus held them in place with one of his forcefields. When at last he was sure there would be no more trouble, he turned and strolled over to the pile of dark gem fragments in front of him.

"You dragons were foolish to try and defeat me. And now you shall all suffer!" Atticus's hands glowed again and the fragments on the ground began to shake. He waved his hands and the fragments reformed into the original gem. He held it up to the sky. "And now we open the door to hell!" The gem once again began to glow brightly. Spyro and Cynder shielded their eyes as flash of white consumed the area. Austin watched in pure astonishment as a black portal appeared behind Atticus. Flashes of lightning could be seen in the portal. Atticus smirked triumphantly and turned to face them. "Farewell fools! I shall leave a parting gift for you!" Atticus erupted into laughter as he threw the dark gem at the forcefield. The forcefield disappeared as Phantom and Atticus walked through the portal and it closed behind them. Spyro approached the dark gem and frowned. Completely void of all energy, the gem was a dull and lifeless gray color. He picked it up in his hand and examined it.

"Now what to we do?" He growled in frustration. "We have to go after him! We can't let him just get away with this!" Cynder sighed. She helped Ash and Drake get back to their feet while Spyro helped Lea up. Ash growled and looked around.

"Where is that wise guy? I'm going to wipe that smirk right off his face!" Ash growled as smoke came out of his nostrils. Austin walked over cautiously.

"Take it easy killer; Atticus and his little goon escaped." Spyro nodded sadly.

"They're probably exploring the dark realm as we speak. If only there was some way we could open the portal." Spyro exclaimed. Austin suddenly snapped to attention.

"Wait… that's it! I think I have an idea as to how you guys can open a portal like Atticus did." Austin said.

"Well let's hear it. We don't have much else to do anyway." Ash responded. Austin nodded.

"Remember how Atticus hands were glowing the entire time he held the gem?" Spyro and Cynder nodded. "My guess was he was feeding some energy into the gem to open the portal." Sparx flew next to Austin.

"I see where the guy's going. If you shoot enough magic out of your faces maybe you'll open the portal to all the danger." Sparx exclaimed. Everyone suddenly glared at Sparx. "What did I do this time?" He whined, folding his arms.

"Try not interrupted Sparx, for once." Spyro chuckled. That was what he liked about Sparx. Even in times of danger and crises, Sparx could always cheer Spyro up. "Alright, I say we give Austin's idea a try." The other dragons nodded. Spyro placed the dark gem on the ground and suddenly let loose a torrent of flames. Cynder followed up with her own black fire and Ash used his fire breath as well. Drake used his ice breath and Lea finished it up with her earth shot. After what seemed like several minutes another bright flash encased the ruins. The same swirling black portal lay in front of them. Spyro took a step toward it. Cynder and the others began to follow but Spyro stopped them. "No, you guys shouldn't come. It far too dangerous and I won't let anything happen to you guys." Cynder put her paw on Spyro's shoulder.

"Spyro, I think that I've proven that I can hold my own. I'm not the same hatchling you had to rescue from Gaul." She whispered.

"Hey! We're not going to let you just get all the fun!" Ash smirked. "I want to see the look on that old man's face when we show up and kick his booty anyway. Let's go!" Spyro nodded.

"Alright, here we go." He dashed off into the portal followed by Cynder, Ash, Lea and then Drake. Sparx and Austin stood in front of it.

"Why, why does he want to run _toward_ the danger?" Sparx sighed. "Let's go, the portal doesn't bite… at least I _hope_ it doesn't!" Sparx shrugged and flew into the portal. Austin walked forward clutching his gun. He had no idea what to expect at this point.

* * *

Ignitus, Cyril, Terrador and Volteer watched from the temple as the sky turned from the beautiful orange and pink colors of a sunset, to a demonic black. Flashes of purple lightning could be seen on the horizon. "It is as I feared. Someone has opened the portal that was never meant to be opened." Ignitus grimly stated.

"Aye," Volteer agreed, "someone is traveling in the dark realm as we speak." Even he was out of things to say.

"And without our prized spirit gems our powers will soon begin to fade and we will grow weaker and more vulnerable." Cyril pointed out. "I can truly say that I have no idea what to expect at this point." They all sighed.

"And what about Spyro, Cynder and the others?" Terrador asked. "If the portal to the dark realm was opened, does that mean the human has defeated them?" Ignitus turned to face Terrador. A few minutes later the dragons were arranged in front of the Pool of Visions. "Can you see anything, Ignitus?" Terrador asked.

"No, there is nothing coming into focus." Ignitus replied. The other guardians looked down or away in defeat. "Hold on…" Ignitus muttered and the other guardians turned their attentions back to him. "Something faint is appearing. I can't really make it out." He stared intently at the pool. "It's becoming clearer now. Yes! I can see it. I see an enormous castle. Black as the night… and atop a floating island. But, I cannot say I know of such a place." Ignitus turned to the other guardians for help.

"I have one thought." Terrador responded. "I have heard rumors that it is the old fortress Malefor had constructed during his years in the dark realm." Ignitus's eyes widened.

"That very well may be the answer. If that's the case, Spyro is chasing the human through the dark realm." Ignitus exclaimed. Terrador's facial expression seemed to turn even grimmer.

"Is there something wrong, Terrador?" Cyril asked. Terrador nodded.

"According to the legends, Malefor had tortured many innocent creatures in his time within the fortress. The legend says that many of them still live within the walls of the fortress. If that's the case, the sight of a purple dragon, Spyro, would infuriate them. My guess is that they would want to see the blood of a purple dragon spilled by their hands." The other guardians took what Terrador said into consideration.

"All there is left to do now is to wait. May the ancestors look after them…" The other guardians nodded.

* * *

"…_may they look after us all." _Spyro had thought he'd heard Ignitus's voice inside his head for a moment. He shook of the feeling as he took in the sights around him. The portal deposited them atop a fairly large island. It was floating over a never-ending void. Spyro shivered slightly. The island he was on was essentially a decaying forest. The trees were all covered in disgusting purple moss and were all dead and decaying. The grass was a crabby gray color and also looked dead. The sky above them was an eerie purple color and lightning flashes were quite frequent.

"This place is awful." Lea whispered sadly. "I want to leave right now!" She stomped her paw on the ground. Austin nearly fainted at the sight of the void below them. To Cynder, the sight of the dark realm brought up painful memories of her days toiling for the Dark Master. She shivered but soon felt a wing draped over her. It was Spyro.

"You look a little pale." He remarked. Cynder nodded. "Are they bothering you again?" Cynder nodded again. "Don't worry; we're all here with you. You don't have to do this alone." Cynder smiled and the two walked forward to the edge of the island. A stone platform flew in from out of nowhere and came to a stop right in front of the island. Puzzled, Spyro stepped up to the platform. Another stone platform flew in from the other side and stopped right in front of him. Spyro looked around and noticed dozens of stone platforms hovering upside-down or sideways. "I'm guessing this is the path we should follow." Lea, Drake, Ash and Austin soon caught up with them. Austin was looking through a pair of binoculars.

"What are those?" Lea asked.

"Oh, these are my binoculars. They let me see much farther. Although in a place this big, I don't see what good they're going to do me." He turned and stared straight ahead through the binoculars. "Wait! I see something. It looks like a giant castle. It's on a rather large floating island."

"Hmmm, a giant, creepy castle in a giant creepy place," Sparx exclaimed, "something tells me we should be heading in _that_ direction!" Sparx pointed in the opposite direction they were heading.

"Get a grip, Sparx. We're not going to let anything happen to you." Spyro responded. The purple dragon took another step forward as another floating platform appeared in front of him. They continued to walk forward, the floating platforms flying into place in front of them. Sparx seemed the most interested by this. His eyes darted back in forth as he watched the platforms fly from the resting spots to in front of them. Many platforms later, they arrived on another island. This one was just stone unlike the previous one they were on.

"Let's take a break, Spyro. I'm getting tired." Drake yawned.

BOOM!

The sound reminded Spyro of a Dreadwing dropping a bomb. Suddenly, he looked in front of him and saw a pack of strange, lizard-like creatures. Their heads were heavily armored and they had unusually long talons and their left arms were incredibly swollen. "What the heck are those things?" Ash gasped.

"I remember reading a book on some of the rarest creatures you could find. I think they're called Blades. What are they doing here in the dark realms?" Before anyone else had a chance to say anything, the lead Blade lunged at Drake with his left arm. Drake rolled to the side, dodging the attack with ease. The Blade whirled around and pointed its right arm at Drake. It shot its talons at Drake. Drake was hit in the paws and pinned to the ground. The Blade prepared to finish him when Spyro came in and comet dashed it, knocking it off the island. The Blade screamed as it fell toward the void below. The other two Blades then growled and launched themselves at Spyro. Spyro doubled jumped over them and Cynder and Lea propelled them off the island using the combined force of their breaths.

"Good shot." Cynder exclaimed.

"Likewise!" Lea replied. "You don't think Atticus sent those things after us, do you?" Spyro shrugged.

"I can't really say. But what I do know is that we should probably be moving a little faster." The other dragons nodded and dashed forward as more stone platforms appeared to make a path toward the Dark Master's fortress.

**To be continued**


	7. The Black Fortress

**Chapter 7 coming at you now. Again, I'd really like to hear if you guys would like a sequel to this story so please say so in your reviews. I'm really enjoying this story more than the other one I completed. I'd also like to give credit to Zerodius. Our long discussions inspired the way I designed the inner sanctum of Malefor's fortress. Thanks Zerodius! **

**Spyro and respective characters copyright Sierra, Ash is copyright Mad Guns22, Austin is copyright TMHB77, and all OCs are copyright of myself. Additionally, some of the minor enemies used are copyright Capcom Co. **

**Chapter 7- The Black Fortress**

"Well? Do you see anything or not?" Atticus asked as he impatiently paced in front of the familiar black-haired human. Phantom, who was sleeping in a corner of the room, awoke and stretched. He wondered how long he'd been out. He fell asleep as soon as Atticus's portal deposited them in the throne room of the Dark Master's fortress. He was slightly startled at the sight of Dagon, who was kneeling over a shimmering white Pool of Visions. He stretched again and walked over to his master.

"When did he get here?" Phantom asked, yawning. Atticus turned to face the shadow creature.

"He arrived not long after you were fast asleep. Could you excuse us? We're in the middle of something important." Atticus turned back to face Dagon. "What is taking you so long?" Dagon swore under his breath before responding to Atticus's question.

"You're not exactly helping, bud. It was hard enough for me to do this as a dragon. And you're expecting me to be able to do it like this? You really are as crazy as I though." Suddenly, the white pool began to glow. "Hold on, I'm actually getting something." He took a deep breath and closed his mutated left eye. "Yeah, I see them. They're here, just like you thought. They're nearing the front entrance of the fortress." Atticus smirked.

"What fools; the inhabitants of this fortress will tear them to shreds." He remarked.

"All the better for us, my liege." Phantom added, an evil grin twisting across his face. Atticus nodded.

"Still, I want to have a little insurance." He turned to his shadowy minion, "I want you to wait in their path. Don't dive too far into the fortress; stay closer to us. Consider yourself the 'final defense' of this twisted fortress. That is, if they even make it to you!" Atticus laughed and Phantom joined in with him.

"Sorry to interrupt your little moment," Dagon cut in, annoying Phantom and Atticus in the process, "but exactly how much longer do we have to wait here? This place isn't exactly my idea of 'fun' quite like it is yours." Atticus pushed up his glasses. Dagon noted it was the first time in over an entire day he did it.

"If you must know, the Black Moon will be at its highest point in exactly four hours." Dagon swore to himself again.

"And why do we need the Black Moon?" He asked again. His questions seemed to annoy Atticus, whose triumphant grin turned into more of a glare.

"If you _must_ know, the Black Moon contains more dark energy than the entire realm all together! It is the most powerful when it is in the exact same position in the sky as one of the Celestial Moons of the Dragon Realms. Such an event only occurs every 100 years. We happen to be fortunate because in four hours this 'eclipse' will take place. It is then that I will use a spell from the Dark Dragon's book to extract energy from the Black Moon and store it in the dragons' Spirit Gems. The dark energy will overwhelm the light energy and I will have thousands of dark gems at my disposal!" Once again Atticus and Phantom erupted with laughter. Dagon merely sighed. All he wanted was for Spyro to make it to the throne room.

'_And then I'll have my revenge.'_

* * *

As they walked down the flight of decaying stone steps leading to the Dark Master's fortress, they noted a strange black circle in the sky. "It's almost like it's the moon of the dark realms, or something." Lea exclaimed. Cynder stared at the moon and her entire body began to shiver. Spyro walked up next to her.

"You feel it too, don't you?" He asked. "The darkness…" He whispered and Cynder nodded.

"Spyro, I have a really bad feeling. I think we need to get a move on." She whispered back. Spyro nodded. They soon arrived at the front doors to the fortress. The doors towered over them, two massive stone towers looking as if they were ready to collapse on the group. In the middle was a large stone dragon head. Spyro took one look at the massive body of stone and instantly concluded it to be the Dark Master's.

"Looks like somebody loves himself just a little too much." Sparx exclaimed. Austin laughed at the dragonfly's comment, as did Spyro and Cynder. Lea, Drake and Ash were less interested in the joke and more interested in the large stone door, which was now parting and opening. It moved inward, to everyone's surprise. Spyro looked up and saw Malefor's giant, ugly head split in two and slowly disappear into the shadows of the dark fortress. Spyro slowly took a step forward, but jolted backward when a screech rang out through the room. Sparx screamed the loudest and quickly flew behind Cynder.

"Is he always like this?" Austin asked Lea. Lea nodded.

"It takes awhile to get used to having Sparx around. We've tried to ditch him before, but Spyro and Cynder are always so determined to bring him along." She replied. Their conversation quickly ended when they noticed they were standing outside by themselves. "H-Hey! Wait for us, you guys!" The two of them dashed into the front room, but quickly skidded to a halt next to Ash. Their jaws dropped as they stared at the gigantic Gryphon before them. The Gryphon's legs had deep scratches cut into them and the beast's face was bruised and bloody. His feathers were also tinted a bright crimson in several areas and completely matted. The Gryphon screeched once again and then turned and glared down at the dragons.

"A purple dragon! No doubt kin of that scum Malefor! Come to torture me again, have you?" Spyro's eyes widened in shock.

"Torture you? Why would I ever do something that cruel?" He shouted at the Gryphon. The Gryphon attempted to squish the purple dragon under his mighty talons, but Spyro dodged it to the side.

"Malefor captured me and my family and tortured me for what seemed like an eternity! He forced me to be his slave and then killed my family members one at a time whenever I went against his orders!" Tears filled the Gryphon's eyes. "Why should I believe anything you say? Filth like you purple dragons should rot in the void for all eternity!" The Gryphon screeched once more before opening his beak. He slammed his head into the ground in an attempt at eating one of the dragons, but they had all quickly dodged the attack to either side. The Gryphon then leaped in the air, destroying the low-lying ceiling and landed on the ground. A shockwave rippled outward. While Spyro and Cynder easily flew over the attack, the others were not so fortunate. Lea had been struck in the head with a piece of rubble from the ceiling and fell to the ground in a nasty face plant. Ash and Drake had crashed into each other and were both rubbing their skulls. Austin had managed to climb on a large rock and the shockwave didn't hit him. But the rock he was standing on was destroyed from the attack and he was now dangling above the long fall from a purple tapestry hanging from a balcony in the room.

Cynder and Spyro flew on either side of the Gryphon, who was focused on Ash, Drake and Lea and double teamed him. Spyro comet dashed into the Gryphon while Cynder formed a tornado around herself and slammed into the Gryphon. The attacks hit the Gryphon in the legs and the mighty beast toppled over like a falling tower. The Gryphon, dizzy from the fall, struggled to get up. The five dragons attacked the Gryphon in various locations using their breath attacks. The Gryphon squawked painfully as the different elements slammed him from all sides. Finally, he lashed out with his legs and slammed them into the dragons as if they were clubs. The Gryphon stood back up and prepared to use another shockwave when a voice rang out from the room's balcony.

"Hey birdbrain, have a taste of this!" The Gryphon wheeled around in time to see the lead bullet from Austin's pistol fly straight at him. It nailed him straight between the eyes and splattered blood everywhere. The Gryphon let out a defeated cry as bright light encased him. His body began to dissolve until there was nothing left in front of the group but an open door. Another purple tapestry and balcony lay above the door.

"Maybe you are more useful than I thought." Ash exclaimed as they proceeded to leave the room.

"Thanks… hey wait a minute!" Austin began to protest, but soon realized he was talking to nobody and then ran after the others. They had emerged into some sort of courtyard. Overhead, the strange moon was moving closer to the center of the sky. Cynder looked around the courtyard and noticed a small box of wilted flowers. She walked over toward them. Austin showed up next to her a few seconds later. "They don't look like they wilted a very long time ago. It looks like they died rather recently, actually." Cynder took what Austin said into consideration. Could it be that the Dark Master had tended to this garden? Maybe there was a little bit of sanity in him, she thought to herself. She turned and trotted next to Spyro. They soon left the garden behind and were in a much longer room. The floor was marble; a black and white checkered pattern similar to that of the fortress in Concurrent Skies. They continued to walk forward, passing black columns and more purple tapestry. Lea, who was walking in front of everyone and staring at the ceiling, suddenly yelped and tumbled forward.

SPLASH!

The others quickly realized the floor ended abruptly. Lea resurfaced and Spyro and Drake managed to pull her out. Lea was shivering from head to toe. Cynder walked over and dipped her paw in the water only to jerk it back, whining in pain. "That water can't be normal. It's too cold." Cynder now shivered, remembering the icy waters of the Well of Souls that Gaul submerged her in when she met the Dark Master for the first time as a tiny infant. Cynder quickly made the decision to fly over the water and did so even though the ceiling significantly lowered over the pool of icy water, leaving a very narrow space between it and the icy pool below. Cynder arrived at the other side followed by Drake and Lea. Spyro had managed to carry Austin over and Austin thanked him. As soon as Ash got going, his head slammed against the ceiling above and he fell into the icy pool. The others fought back the urge to laugh as the soaking wet dragon climbed out, shivering.

"I-It's not t-t-that b-b-b-bad really." He bit his tongue in an effort to distract himself from how cold he was. The others paid no attention to him but instead faced yet another door with a large stone Malefor head embedded in it. They took another step forward and the two eyes of the stone head suddenly lit up a bright yellow. They all jumped back, startled and the stone head began to speak.

"Those who seek passage into these grounds will only find death and despair!" Sparx rolled his eyes and folded his arms.

"If you think that's going to scare us, buddy, you're wrong. Spyro here can handle anything you dish out at us. Come on; give us your best shot." Sparx punched the air with his fists as if he was boxing.

"Very well, if you insist!" The stone head's mouth opened and an orange energy ball began to form within it. Suddenly, two orange beams of energy shot out on either side of the group. The energy beams slammed together, taking the group with them. Their backs were all shocked and their heads slammed together. Spyro was the first to get up, still dizzy, only to realize the Malefor head shot out two more beams. The beams were higher than the first two. As they slammed together, Spyro prepared to double jump the attack. But the purple dragon had been tricked and instead jumped straight into the two beams and was shocked and violently thrown backward into the low-lying ceiling behind him. Cynder turned and glared at the Malefor head before charging it. She flew up to its eye level before shooting a blast of poison breath into the eye. The Malefor head shut its eye after the attack made contact and opened it again seconds later. The eye was now slightly orange instead of yellow. The Malefor head shot an orange energy beam upward. Cynder didn't realize the entire ceiling above her was mirrors until the orange energy beam bounced off and headed straight for her. In the nick of time, Spyro flew in and knocked into the black dragoness. The two tumbled off the Malefor head as the attack hit it in the same eye. Once again it blinked and the eye was now glowing red.

"The eyes are the weak point!" Ash loudly exclaimed as he raced toward the right eye. Suddenly, a horizontal energy beam knocked him right out of the sky and to the ground. The Malefor head started sending out more horizontal beams; some higher or lower than others. While the dragons tried their best to weave through the attacks, Austin casually walked out of range of the attack and fired two shots from his pistol. The first hit the Malefor head's right eye. It blinked and turned orange. The second hit the head's left eye. A large chunk of the stone head suddenly exploded, scattering stone debris everywhere. The Malefor head now switched to vertical beams, which began snaking around the area. Austin jumped off his attacking spot, narrowly dodging one of the beams. Spyro had managed to roll dodge one of the beams and flew up to the Malefor head's remaining eye. He slammed it with an earth shot and then flew away to dodge a counterattack beam. The Malefor head suddenly roared and another orange energy ball formed in its mouth. At the same time, the horizontal energy beams began shooting out. The dragons were too preoccupied with the horizontal beams to notice the two beams coming from the head's mouth. Spyro and Cynder managed to catch them out of the corners of their eyes and flew into the air to avoid being hit. The Malefor head then fired the two beams high up and Spyro quickly knew it was their only shot at him. He flew behind Cynder then used his earth shot to propel the black dragoness forward and onto the Malefor head. She shot a blast of her fire breath then leaped off the head as the entire thing exploded.

"Thanks…" She whispered to Spyro, panting heavily. The door in front of them swung open, but instead of the salvation of arriving in the next room, another trio of Blades leaped out to greet them. The Blades wasted no time in launching at Spyro, Cynder and Ash. While Spyro and Cynder easily roll dodged the Blades, Ash was not so luck and skidded all the way into the icy pool of water behind them. The Blades quickly reared up on their hind legs and fired their claws at the dragons. Lea and Cynder were struck in their upper arms and were now struggling to remove the claws. Austin once again fired a shot from his pistol and hit the Blade right in its swollen left arm. The Blade screamed and collapsed on the floor in a heap. The other two Blades turned their attention on the human, but it proved to be a big mistake. Ash suddenly leaped out of nowhere and shot a huge blast of fire at the Blades, incinerating them both in seconds.

"That takes care of that!" He smirked and then walked back toward the others. "Well, are we going to get going or not?" They nodded and walked through the door into the next room. The strange circular had a single beam of light shooting down from the center of the room, yet the entire room was brightly lit up. The room was surrounded by large stone pillars. The pillars had strange circles at the bottom of them. Cynder cautiously approached a pillar.

"It's a mirror. It must be how the entire room is being lit up." She turned and walked back next to Spyro and Drake.

CRASH!

In a matter of seconds, the entire room was dark. There was still a slight amount of light from the central beam, but a thick fog soon settled in over the room and there was even less light. The dragons all got closer together, preparing for an attack. Laughter began to fill the room. "What's the matter? Are you afraid of the dark?" The laughter continued. "Darkness is my ally; it was foolish of me not to use it against you sooner." Spyro instantly recognized the voice.

"Why don't you show yourself and stop hiding like a coward!" Spyro taunted back. Laughter erupted once again.

"Your words mean nothing. Once you are out of the way, nothing will stop us from completing our plan. Besides, how you could say I'm a coward when you have four little friends to hide behind when things are looking grim!" Austin coughed and cleared his throat. "My apologies… four and a half friends!" Austin pulled out his binoculars and pressed a button on them. He suddenly looked left, pulled out his pistol and fired. There was a brief silence and then Phantom spoke again. "OW! What the hell was that? Some sort of heat seeking, uh, thing?" Austin smirked.

"Night-vision! Your stupid cover up scheme will do you no good." Austin replied triumphantly.

"Grrrr, we shall see about that, boy! I'm going to do what I should've done to you all awhile ago!" Though no one could see him, Phantom began to dart around the room again, the darkness and the fog blanketing him and blending him in.

"Spyro! On your left!" Austin yelled, but it was in vain. Spyro was slammed by a fireball and hurtled backward into Austin. The sound of broken plastic could be heard. "My binoculars! That thing broke my binoculars!" Suddenly, Lea was lifted in the air and thrown into the wall. She slammed into a column and unknowingly made a crack in the stone covering the mirrors. She stood back up and hunched low to the ground, waiting for the shadow creature's next move. She suddenly saw Ash flying in her direction and dove out of the way. Ash struck the stone and created an even bigger dent in it. Lea walked over to help Ash up when she noticed the crack in the stone. An idea came to her and she used her earth shot on the wall. Ash stared at her, puzzled. The stone finally crumbled from the force of her attack. A chunk of the circular room suddenly lit up, and Phantom was seen standing right in front of Lea and Ash. Lea screamed, but Spyro came charging in from the side, he formed an electric orb around himself and rammed Phantom at full speed. Phantom was shot backward into the wall and landed on the ground with a thud.

"Damn you and your four elements!" Phantom growled.

"Spyro, the pillars! Destroy the bottoms and you'll expose the mirrors again! Our only chance is to light up the arena!" Lea yelled. Spyro charged toward another pillar only to be met by a charging Phantom. Spyro had been ready for this and grabbed on to Phantom at the last second. The purple dragon and his doppelganger were both thrown into the same wall. Phantom quickly stood up and darted for the safety of the dark parts of the arena. "We should split up! He can't take all of us!" Lea yelled out her other idea. The other dragons nodded and each ran for a pillar. As they approached the various pillars, Phantom simply smirked. He rose into the air and unleashed his own fire fury, sending walls of black flames in all directions. The dragons were caught off guard by Phantom's attack and were all hit by the attack. However, the fury slammed each of them into a pillar and they started breaking. Phantom silently swore and began to dash around in a circle. The first dragon he was approaching was Cynder. Cynder had seen the shadow creature coming and double jumped over him. Expecting to meet dragon scales, Phantom was taken by surprised when Cynder slammed him from above with her bladed tail. She grabbed and proceeded to drill him into the pillar using her wind breath. The stone shattered and revealed another mirror. More of the arena lit up in response to. Cynder then grabbed Phantom, rolled backward and sent him careening toward the opposite wall.

"Hey, Ash, watch your back!" Cynder yelled. Ash wheeled around and saw Phantom flying at him and quickly ducked. Phantom slammed into the pillar and Ash duck into Phantom's underbelly with his talons. He pinned the shadow creature against the pillar and let loose a nasty stream of fire. Phantom squealed in pain as the heat slowly burned his face and neck. The stone behind him soon gave out and fell apart and another mirror was exposed. Half of the arena was now lit as Ash swatted Phantom away with his tail. Lea looked over her shoulder to see Phantom flying at her. Lea put up her front left paw and Phantom's snout slammed into it. He stopped dead in his tracks and dropped to the ground, grabbed his snout and swearing to himself. Lea then unleashed an earth flail and began spinning it around. It hit the pillar and Phantom several times. The pillar was finally destroyed and another mirror was exposed. More of the arena lit up and Lea finished her attack by slamming Phantom with her earth flail from above. Phantom was utterly helpless as he was tossed at Drake. Drake merely shot a polar bomb at him, freezing him solid.

"That look suits you better." He taunted as he finished destroying his pillar. Only a tiny sliver of the arena was left in the dark and Spyro made quick work of the last pillar. Soon the room was exactly as they had entered it. Phantom swore again; it was loud enough for the others to hear. They approached Phantom and quickly cornered him against one of the room's walls. Phantom was sweating bullets as the five dragons glared at him.

"Come on, guys, we're pals, aren't we? I'm sure we can work out some sort of agreement on this, right?" Phantom broke into a nervous smile. Spyro shook his head and within a second Phantom was pummeled by five different breath attacks. They kept firing on him for about a minute before they backed off. "ARGH! H-How could I lose to the likes of you punks?!" Phantom's body began to glow white. "It doesn't matter. You'll never make it to Atticus in time! The Black Moon is nearly in the eclipse position! You're too late! Tooooooooo late!" Phantom moaned as he dissolved into the air. In a bright flash of white, he was gone. In his place was purple and black colored dragon armor. Spyro and Cynder had recognized it instantly.

"I knew it." Cynder muttered. "I had a feeling someone like him would need more than just magic to be made." She and Spyro took a good look at the armor. "It's male armor. Do you want it?" Spyro looked long and hard at the armor and shook his head.

"We'll let it rot in here. It deserves no less." He then smirked. "Besides, black is sooooo not my color." He continued. Cynder returned his playful smirk.

"And I think purple's hideous." She sarcastically responded. Everyone else, even Sparx, rolled their eyes.

"Those made even my jokes seem funny." He exclaimed, folding his arms. "Stick to saving the world, buddy, it's a better job for ya." He winked and elbowed the purple dragon.

"Whatever you say, Sparx." Spyro turned and followed the others out of the room. "Whatever you say."

* * *

"What does the book say, Ignitus?" Volteer asked. The guardians were still gathered around the pool. Ignitus had his nose buried in a strange purple book. Terrador had found it in the library. After another long silence, Ignitus looked up and answered him.

"I think the reason that human has gone to the dark realms has to do with this," Ignitus pointed to a section of the page he was reading, "It says that the eclipse of the Black Moon should be happening very soon." Cyril cocked an eye in response to Ignitus's statement.

"The Black Moon? I'm afraid I don't quite follow you." Ignitus looked at the book again and then back at Cyril.

"I'm afraid this book doesn't give me any other details, really." He sighed.

"The Black Moon is the celestial body of the dark realms. Once a century, it comes to the exact same position as one of our Celestial Moons. That night unfortunately happens to be tonight, as Ignitus said." Terrador paused. "The Black Moon is rumored to have more dark energy stored within it then the entirety of the dark realms." Volteer turned to the earth guardian.

"Are you surmising that the human has voyaged into the dark realms to acquire this energy?" Terrador nodded. "How do we know this isn't another one of your tall tales?" Volteer asked.

"Very well, I'll show you." Terrador stood up and walked out, the other guardians following. The sky was still a strange dark purple and black. Terrador pointed to a red sphere which was nearing the center of the sky. "_That_ is one of the two Celestial Moons."

"But why does it have such a menacing aura to it?" Cyril asked.

"Because it senses that the Black Moon is nearing. The color changed in response to the massive amounts of dark energy." Ignitus stared at the moon and his thoughts drifted off to Spyro and the others. He hoped they were still alive. And he hoped they would find the human before this eclipse happened.

* * *

The inner sanctum of the Dark Master's fortress was surprisingly breathtaking to look at. It was awfully out of place in this dank, dark place. Unlike the rest of the castle, it looked untouched and undisturbed. Everything was a shining white color: the walls, the floors, the ceilings and the pillars. A red carpet was neatly laid out along the center of the white floor. Austin walked up to one of the statues that lined the long room. "It's a gargoyle." He gasped.

"A gar-whatta?!" Ash replied. Austin rolled his eyes.

"A gargoyle. Where I come from, people used statues of gargoyles to ward off evil spirits and bad omens. I see them on church buildings all the time." Austin answered. He looked at another gargoyle statue.

"Why would one of the greatest evils to ever walk the Dragon Realms have statues like these in his fortress?" Lea asked. Cynder stared at one of the gargoyles. Her mind was racing once again. She questioned what had really gone on in the mind of the twisted purple dragon. This room looked more like it belonged in a king's palace than in a fortress of evil. Spyro was standing at the end of the long room. He was staring at a long, twisting spiral staircase made of white marble. Again, a red carpet spiraled up the center of the marble staircase. On either side of it was a small statue of Malefor. Spyro was reminded of the statue in the Dragon Temple and the one in Malefor's mountain fortress. As the others joined him, Spyro began to ascend the long staircase. As he did, he noticed more statues of Malefor lined the staircase. Each of them stared him right in the eyes. His look was not one of evil and hatred but a strong, intelligent and serious look. As he neared the top of the staircase, he noticed another pedestal.

"It's missing the statue." Cynder exclaimed as she passed Spyro by. Austin was the first to arrive at the top of the staircase. The long room was pretty much similar to the previous one, only the statues were of Malefor and not of gargoyles. Gold tapestry hung above the Malefor statues. Austin noticed something out of the corner of his eye and walked to it. It was a statue without a pedestal. This dragon was much smaller and more childlike than the other statues of Malefor. He brought it over to the edge of the staircase where the five dragons were.

"Guys, you might want to see this." He moved in front of them and placed the statue in the pedestal. Austin noted that it fit perfectly. He stepped aside and let the dragons take a look at it. Cynder gasped.

"Spyro… it's you." Spyro stared at the statue and cocked an eye.

"I-I-I don't understand. What is this…? Why is this here?" The statue gave Spyro the chills and he quickly hurried up the remaining flight of stairs. "I don't know about anyone else, but I want to get out of here quickly." Spyro walked through the long room staring at the gold tapestry and statues of Malefor. Cynder was in complete awe of the castle's inner sanctum. She had always had the thought that there was an ounce of decency in Malefor hanging in the back of her head. Now she couldn't help but think about her former master and what had really happened to him. Finally, a voice snapped her back to attention.

"Cynder, are you coming?" Spyro asked. Cynder nodded and followed the purple dragon through the white doors. They emerged in front of a long and steeply ascending flight of white, marble stairs. To the left of the stairs was a towering pile of red health crystals. To the right were green energy crystals. "I think now would be a good time to use these." The dragons took the time to recuperate. Austin grabbed a few red and green crystals and stowed them away in his backpack.

"Just in case there's a major problem. I've played enough video games to realize that this is generally that ominous flight of stairs right before your final battle. I have a feeling once we go through the door at the top we won't be coming back until the battle is won." He began walking up the stairs. The dragons exchanged confused looks and followed him. As they walked up the stairs, they realized the room was a giant sphere. Underneath them, the floor dipped downward. To either side, the walls dipped outward and the ceiling got higher the closer they got to the center of the room. What was creepier was the entire room was painted a light blue and white. It gave the impression of a cloud-filled sky.

"It's beautiful." Lea remarked.

"It's scaring the hell out of me." Ash said as he quickened his pace. The door at the top was white with gold tapestry hanging down from it. Spyro walked up to it and took a deep breath.

"I'm sensing a lot of darkness behind this door." He paused and turned to face his friends. "You guys ready?"

"Born ready!" Ash replied.

"Yeah, let's do it." Drake exclaimed.

"Ready to rock!" Lea said, chuckling at her reference to her earth powers.

"We're going to show Atticus whose boss!" Austin yelled.

"Am I ready to face untold doom, darkness and destruction with no hopes of ever returning? Bring it!" Sparx said, bringing up his tiny fists and punching the air again.

"Let's do it, Spyro. This human menace is dead!" Cynder exclaimed. Spyro nodded.

"Alright, here it goes." Spyro pushed the door and it opened inward. They emerged in another white room. Above them was a large gold dome as opposed to a ceiling. Red tapestry lined the tops of the walls and gold tapestry ran down from it. In the center of the room was a shimmering white Pool of Visions. Behind it was a white marble throne. Towering over it was the largest statue of Malefor Spyro had ever seen. It must have been at least twice as big as the one at the Temple. But his thoughts soon raced to the man sitting comfortably on Malefor's throne.

"So, you fools have finally arrived."

**To be continued!**


	8. The Final Act

**We're really getting down to the nitty-gritty folks! So here's the eighth chapter. I am issuing a warning for some gruesome scenes in this chapter. You've been warned!**

**Spyro and respective characters copyright Sierra, Ash is copyright Mad Guns22, Austin is copyright TMHB77, and all OCs are copyright of myself.**

**Chapter 8- The Final Act**

"A-A-Atticus?" Spyro stuttered. The creature smiled revealing a mouthful of shiny, white fangs.

"In the flesh..." Spyro felt the need to gag at the sight of the human. In addition to the demonic aura around him growing larger since their last encounter, Atticus had changed. His eyes were at least three times their original size and were now glowing red. His skin was gray and clammy and looked rough for some reason. His hair had turned to a blood red color and two large bumps had appeared on either side of the top of his head. His fingernails were now much longer as well.

"I don't understand." Cynder gasped. "It's almost like you're transforming…" Atticus smiled again, showing off his fangs. The black dragoness gulped.

"…into a dragon? That's exactly what's happening! No mere human could fully utilize the Dark Dragon's powers! I needed to assume a form that could easily control all of his dark energy!" Atticus stood up and took a step forward. "Look," he pointed to a corner of the room. The dragons gasped as they saw their entire stock of Spirit Gems sealed within a red and black forcefield. "In less than an hour, the celestial body of the dark realm, the Black Moon, will be at an eclipse with the Celestial Moon overlooking your world. During this brief period of time, the Black Moon will be at its most powerful." Atticus shot a blast of magic upward. The gold dome above them exploded; gold shards rained down on the room. "I shall transfer the massive amounts of dark energy within the Black Moon to your precious Spirit Gems. And the dark energy will consume the light energy and I will have dark gems at my disposal! Dark gems I can use to strip you foolish dragons of your powers! I will drain the magical realms of every drop of magic and then… and then I shall rule over your powerless, pathetic world! No one will be able to stop me without magic! I shall reign for all ETERNITY!" A black bolt of lightning streaked across the sky. Sparx screamed and ducked behind his brother, Spyro. Atticus suddenly glared at them and his eyes flashed. Sparx, Austin, Drake, Ash and Lea soon found themselves chained to the wall by cuffs of black and red energy.

"You rotten son of a…" Ash began but was cut off when Atticus shot an energy ball into his chest.

"You shall not speak." He commanded, startling Ash. The human turned to face Spyro and Cynder. "Well, well, well, the Dragon of Prophecy and the current dark dragon. You two were the first thorns in my side. It's only fair that I dispose of you two first, in front of your friends. They shall make great slaves anyway once I conquer the magical realms and establish…"

"Oh, just SHUT UP ALREADY! All I've been hearing is 'RAWR, I'm Atticus! I'll conquer this, I'll establish that!'" Spyro gasped as Dagon stepped out of the shadows, glaring at the two dragons.

"Well hello there, traitors. Long time no see." He cracked his knuckles. Spyro's eyes widened.

"Dagon, how did you even…?"

"Woah, woah, hold up! _That's_ Dagon?" Ash yelled. "Why he's nothing more than some wimpy old…" Dagon charge toward Ash and wrapped his hands around the red dragon's throat. His mutated eye was staring holes into Ash's fear-filled eyes. "…human." Ash coughed. Dagon punched the dragon in the ribs and a snapping sound could be heard. Ash howled and thrashed in pain, his movements greatly restricted by the energy binds.

"That's what I thought." Dagon gave him an icy glare and walked over to rejoin Atticus. "Listen, old timer, I've had enough of your blabbing. Let's just get to the part where we knock their scaly hides into oblivion!" He drew his sword and pointed it straight at Spyro chest. "I'll give you one last moment of peace to say goodbye to your heart. When I'm through with you, I'm gonna rip the thing straight from your body and pummel it into the ground. A fitting end, no?" Spyro gulped as he realized Dagon was utterly serious.

"Why are you working for Atticus, Dagon?" Cynder growled. Dagon smirked.

"Why should you care, kitten?" He played around with a lock of his black hair. "Alright enough chit-chat, it's time to ROCK!" His sword instantly transformed into Cynder's tail blade and he slammed the ground with it. A tornado erupted from the ground and began thrashing around the room. Cynder and Spyro charged as fast as they could but it was hopeless. The tornado quickly sucked it up and tossed them into the air. Atticus, who was now levitating off the ground, rose up to meet the two dragons in midair. He clapped his hands together and a beam of black energy slammed into the two dragons, knocking them to the ground. Spyro and Cynder landed in opposite corners with a thud. Spyro's eyes were full of panic and worry. The situation was looking evermore grim and the battle had only just started!

Atticus now appeared in front of Spyro and raised both his hands. Spyro quickly air dodged the ensuing blasts of black lightning and blasted an electric orb in Atticus's direction. Atticus spun around and the orb was deflected back at the purple dragon. It exploded and knocked him back into the wall. Atticus began to charge up energy in his hands before he blasted the ground with it. A pillar of red and black energy erupted from the ground. Spyro had already taken to the skies and easily dodged the attack. He flew around Atticus and launched a large fireball. Atticus was stuck in the back but seemed relatively unaffected by the attack. He turned around to face the purple dragon, but Spyro had wisely activated Dragon Time and was now spinning around Atticus. As he did, he was shooting earth bombs all around the demonic human. As Spyro's temporal attack wore off, whirlwinds began to rise and engulfed Atticus. As he was being tosses about from whirlwind to whirlwind, Spyro comet dashed through him several times. The whirlwinds finally disappeared and Atticus was standing on the ground, obviously dizzy from the attack. Spyro seized the opportunity and unloaded a flurry of tail swipes and horn bashes. Atticus eventually snapped to and quickly rose in the air. He yelled again and as he did black energy began swirling around him. He threw his hands in the air and then shockwaves of black energy rippled through the air. The waves slammed into Spyro one after another, throwing him off his feet and slamming him into the giant Malefor statue. Spyro's entire left side was covered in cuts and bruises from Atticus's fury attack. He fell to the ground and slowly got back up to his feet.

"What's the matter? Does the wittle ol' dwagon need a break? Too bad!" Three vortexes appeared on either side of Atticus and three giant black orbs flew out of them. The orbs began to fly toward Spyro. Spyro quickly ducked and rolled under them. The orbs quickly changed directions and began to fly at him again. Thinking quickly, Spyro used his electricity breath and slammed the three orbs together. They exploded, causing the purple dragon to skid backward, but he managed to hold his ground this time. Atticus was also hit by the explosion but didn't seem that hurt by it. He once again turned his attention to the purple dragon. As he was charging up an energy ball, he was suddenly knocked out of the sky by Cynder, who was careening through the air and into the nearby wall. Dagon quickly dashed at her, his swords transformed into the two scimitars. As he got closer, he preformed a quick upward thrust with the curved blades, but hit only metal as Cynder used the two blades on her wings to deflect the attack. She threw Dagon's arms to the side, leaving his chest exposed and slashed him three times with her bladed tail. She quickly used her poison breath on him. Dagon tried to breath in air, but only continued to inhale the poison. He sank to his knees, coughing and gagging. Cynder then grabbed the human with her talons and flew high into the air. She then dived at the ground. The force of the impact could have broken almost every bone in her body, but at the last second she rolled around and Dagon took the entire impact.

Dagon yelled in anger as he landed on his back, hard. He slowly got to his feet and faced the black dragoness. His sword transformed into the serpent buster and he began to charge up a fireball in it. Knowing what was coming, Cynder turned and began to run away. Dagon finished charging and released the massive fireball. Cynder turned over her shoulder in time to see a bright orange ball of flames speeding toward her. Cynder dived to one side, crashing into the nearby wall, and just barely dodged the fireball. Dagon began charging up another one. Cynder held her ground and braced herself. Dagon released the fireball and Cynder once again dodged it. Dagon decided to change tactics and began rapid-firing smaller fireballs at the black dragoness. Cynder quickly took to the skies and weaved her way through the fireballs. When she was over Dagon, she used her fear breath to grab him and slam him into the wall multiple times. As she did, Dagon's sword turned back to normal and he lost his grip on it. Cynder finished by throwing Dagon away from the sword and dived for it. Dagon slowly got to his feet, clutching his head.

"Ah my aching… where the hell is my sword?!" Dagon growled.

"Looking for this?" Cynder's muffled voice taunted. Dagon's eyes widened and he saw the black dragoness with the handle of the sword in her mouth. Dagon's face turned a bright shade of red and he began chasing after Cynder. Cynder nimbly leaped into the air and was soon flying over the enraged Dagon, the sword still in her mouth. Dagon jumped as high as he could and tried to grab the sword, but completely missed Cynder and did a nice face-plant into the floor. Cynder flew toward the top of the wall and laid the sword down there. She sat down next to it and began raining fireballs down on Dagon. "Let's see if you can dance, pretty boy!" She taunted as the fireballs hit Dagon in the back and the stomach. She then switched to shooting blasts of poison breath at the human. Dagon swore loudly as he ran around the room, trying to dodge her attacks. As he was running, he collided with Spyro who was running away from more of Atticus's black orbs. The orbs instead hit Dagon and exploded in his face and he stumbled to the ground. "That's some fancy footwork! Maybe if your feet were as big as your mouth you wouldn't lose your footing all the time!" Cynder smirked and used her fear breath on Dagon. The breath gripped him tight and she threw him at Atticus. "How about you boys try putting your head together?" Dagon collided with Atticus and knocked him to the ground. Spyro slammed Atticus from above with his earth flail and then blasted him with an electric orb.

Atticus was repelled back in the air by the attack where he was shot back into a wall by a burst of wind breath from Cynder. Atticus frowned and hovered in front of the purple dragon. "You want to play hard ball?" Atticus growled and his demonic aura grew once again. "Then let's dance!" He yelled as he released his energy into another fury attack. Spyro was thrown against the wall Cynder was sitting on. Cynder dug into the wall with her talons to try and stay atop the perch. She turned her head and gasped as the sword was jostled over the edge of the wall. Dagon saw this and turned around. He sprinted toward the wall and leaped into the air. He landed on Spyro's head and jumped off of him, grabbing his sword by the handle. His momentum continued to propel him up and he double jumped onto the wall's perch. Cynder had no time to react as Dagon delivered a powerful sweeping kick to Cynder's head. The dragoness tumbled down the wall and slammed into the floor. A cracking sound was heard as her back slammed into the cold marble and she lay there dazed. Dagon yelled and dived from the perch. Against the momentum of his fall he swung his sword in front of him.

"DIE!" He yelled as he landed. The ensuing scream was louder than anything Spyro had ever heard in his life. A disturbed Atticus plugged his ears as the screech dragged on for almost an entire minute.

"No…" Lea choked on her own words.

"You sick son of a…" Ash was fighting against the restraints Atticus had put on them harder than ever. He could not divert his eyes from the sight of the crazed mutant pulling his sword out of the black dragoness's underbelly.

"That missed the heart, I can tell. But it's still a fatal blow if I've ever seen one." Austin stammered. "If only I could reach my backpack." Austin squirmed around, the restraints still chaining him to the wall.

"Cynder…" Spyro was in too much shock to move. He was in a pure state of disbelief and it had numbed his entire body. He then felt the coldness of steel and was sent reeling backward. He landed in the Pool of Visions and the icy water snapped him out of his shock.

"Welcome back to reality, punk! She's a cruel mistress, isn't she?" Dagon's sword was painting itself red as the blood dripped down the sword from the tip.

"No! Cynder!" Spyro charged forward only to be knocked back again by Dagon. Spyro's legs were beginning to tremble. He tried to sense her dark energy, to sense any little bit of life left in her. And then he saw her chest move up. His eyes widened, whilst Dagon cocked an eyebrow. He suddenly wheeled around just as Cynder's chest contracted again. He smirked and slowly approached her.

"Still fighting it, huh?" He brought the sword in front of him. "Don't worry; this'll be a quick and painless affair… FOR ME!" Dagon prepared to deliver the final blow and all Spyro could do was stare at him. He remembered the same twisted face, the face of revenge when Dagon attacked him at the Temple. He remembered the twisted face when Dagon impaled Cynder's wing through his sword. He remembered the same twisted face when he encountered Dagon in the woods of Avalar. And he remembered the same twisted face when Dagon had nearly drowned him. And again he wore that twisted face as he delivered the near-fatal blow to Cynder…

…The dark gem Spyro was carrying pulsed with energy.

He stared at the mutant and the human floating next to him, the same warm, demonic smile on his lips as he mouthed "finish her," to Dagon. He remembered the same demonic smile when Atticus had left them for dead in front of the Dragon Temple. He remembered the same demonic smile when Dagon had nearly choked him to death. He remembered the same smile when Dagon had delivered a blow to Cynder's underbelly early in the fight against her in the arena. He remembered the same demonic smile as Atticus and Phantom finished ransacking the temple. And he had the same smile after he'd once again embarrassed Spyro by defeating him in Avalar. And here he was again wearing that smile of his…

…and those faces made Spyro angry.

The gem pulsed more violently now.

CRASH!

"The eclipse! It's happening!" Lea shrieked as the purple sky suddenly darkened to a strange red and black color. A black bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, then descended into the throne room and exploded right smack in the middle of the room.

"Wh-What's happening?!" Atticus shouted. "No! We're going to miss the opportunity!" He hissed.

* * *

The sound of thunder pounded through the sky and the Guardians were staring at the Pool of Visions with a greater intensity then before. The pool began glowing once again; only it was a horrible shade of black and purple. "I see…" Ignitus began when the Pool of Visions exploded, shooting water everywhere. The smoke quickly cleared and Ignitus stared at the small crater in shock. "No…" He stammered, "Something horrible has happened in the dark realms! I'm sure of it!" The other guardians lowered their heads in sadness. It seemed that all had been lost.

* * *

The black lightning was now striking every other second. Atticus turned to Dagon. "Quick, the girl. Kill the girl!" Dagon nodded and raised his sword again.

"**LET HER GO!**" A deep voice roared as a dark purple wave of energy came sweeping across the room and slammed Atticus and Dagon into the wall. The force of the wave obliterated the entire wall and sent the two tumbling down the stairs of the previous room. The energy binds around Ash, Lea, Drake, Sparx and Austin vanished and they dropped to the ground. They cautiously began to approach Cynder. "**Don't move! Don't take another step or I'll kill you all!**" The voice hissed again. A dragon flew out of the smoke blanketing the center of the room. Sparx screamed as he recognized the dragon. The dragon was a shadowy black with a dark purple underbelly and horns. Black smoke was rising from the dragon's body. It stared into the group's fearful eyes with its own glowing, hollow ones.

"Spyro, no! Remember what happened last time?!" Sparx screamed at the dark dragon. Spyro merely growled and swatted Sparx into one of the remaining walls. "It… hurts… bad…" The dragonfly mumbled as he fell to the ground. Lea looked at Sparx with wide eyes and turned back to face Spyro.

"Spyro! Wake up! We're not going to hurt you or Cynder. We're your friends!" Lea cried. Spyro glared at the green dragoness.

"**Get out of my sight!**" He roared as a black energy ball surrounded him. Pillars of dark energy rose out of the ground. One of the struck the motionless Cynder and she began glowing dark purple. Spyro roared again and waves of black energy rippled out one after another. Ash, Drake, Lea and Austin were blown clear of the room and fell to the bottom of the steps in the previous room. Ash turned to see Atticus and Dagon charge up the staircase. They were both seething with anger to the point where their faces were turning bright red. At the top of the stairs they saw the dark dragon and froze in their tracks. Spyro hissed and charged at Atticus. Atticus quickly formed a barrier around himself and lightning streaked across the sky as Spyro and Atticus pushed back at each other. The two finally shook each other off, knocking themselves backward. Atticus wouldn't allow Spyro another opportunity to do something that dangerous. He quickly followed up by shooting out a beam of demonic red and black energy. Spyro opened his maw and a ray of purple energy shot out at Atticus's beam. Black light consumed the room as the two attacks were once again in a stalemate. Dagon tried to break the stalemate by shooting a fireball at Spyro from his serpent head buster.

Spyro had seen the attack coming and flew upward as Atticus's attack went straight under him; his own ray of dark energy still shooting out of his mouth. The beam broke through Atticus's barrier and sent him spiraling backward. Spyro turn his attention to Dagon and dived at him. Dagon managed to roll to the side at the very last minute but Spyro managed to execute a brilliant midair turn and sent another wave of dark energy at the mutant. The attack hit him in the legs and he stumbled to the ground. He quickly rolled back to his feet, just barely dodging another swoop from Spyro. As Spyro was turning around, three of Atticus's black orbs struck him in the back and he was thrown forward slightly. He turned around to face Atticus and shot a wave of dark energy at him. Atticus sent out three more orbs and the attacks exploded as they met in midair. Spyro flew through the smoke and startled the human as he let loose a lightning fast flurry of physical attacks. Spyro then grabbed Atticus and began spinning around. He let loose his dark energy ray which began to spiral around him. Spyro frowned at the human and dropped him into the dark energy tornado. Spyro quickly flew out unharmed while Atticus was thrown into the air. Dagon used the opportunity to lash out at Spyro with his two scimitars. He missed and Spyro broke one of the scimitars in half with a quick ray of dark energy. The shocked Dagon watched as the remaining scimitar transformed back into his sword. The gem now had a large burn mark on it and was smoking and emitting sparks.

"You bas…" Dagon was quickly interrupted by another beam of energy from Atticus, which sent Spyro reeling backward. Spyro hit the wall feet first however, and easily bounced back off to face the human. Atticus readied another beam of energy and unleashed it. Spyro shot a dark energy wave out of his maw. The attack tore through Atticus's beam as if it were a flimsy piece of paper before shattering Atticus's newly created barrier. Atticus readied himself to dodge Spyro's next attack when Dagon lashed out at Spyro using the copy of Cynder's tail blade. Spyro leaned backward and the sword easily missed him. Dagon slammed the sword on the ground and a wind tornado erupted from under the sword. Spyro glared at Dagon and dove through the tornado. It did nothing to slow him down as he tore the sword in half with another dark energy ray. Dagon swore viciously as his sword reverted to normal. The gem was now even more burned and was smoking and sparking as if it was about to explode. An exploding orb then slammed into Spyro and Dagon followed it up with an upward thrust from his sword. Spyro was knocked higher in the air before he stabilized himself. He turned and saw another beam of energy heading for him. Spyro was too preoccupied with defending himself from the beam that he didn't notice a fireball shot at him from Dagon. The fireball hit him in the underbelly as did the beam of energy and Spyro slammed into what was left of the gold dome.

Atticus prepared another beam and fire at Spyro. Spyro swooped under it only to be struck by another fireball from Dagon. Spyro roared and sent a wave of dark energy at the mutant. Dagon threw his arms in front of his face as the wave hit the serpent buster and blew it to bits. Dagon gasped as his sword reformed. He got one good looked at the entirely singed gem that powered the sword before it melted into a puddle of green liquid. Dagon, fuming with anger went over to grab his sword, only to throw it on the ground and grab his hand in pain. Spyro stared at Dagon while the mutant massaged his burnt hand. Atticus quickly attacked the dark dragon while his back was turned. Atticus's fury attack slammed into the dark dragon but did absolutely nothing. Spyro flew up in front of Atticus and unleashed his own dark fury once again. Atticus curled up in a ball as his barrier was shattered once more and he was thrown to the floor. The dark dragon swooped down in front of him. Atticus yelled in panic and began to crawl away, only to be cornered against a wall.

"**DIE, OLD MAN!**" Spyro hissed as he let loose a ray of dark energy from point blank range. Atticus shrieked as his demonic red and black aura evaporated into the air. Slowly, he began to return to normal. His eyes and fingers shrunk, the bumps on his head had disappeared, his hair and eyes changed back to their snowy white and blue colors, and his skin was returning to its normal smooth, tan color. Atticus's robes were now heavily torn. His white hair was matted and he now had several bald spots on his head. His face and clothing were also badly burnt and his arms were covered in burns and bruises.

"Ha…! HA HA HA!" Atticus stumbled to his feet. "I knew you didn't have it in you to kill me… coward!" Atticus shrieked with laughter as the dark dragon glared at him. Atticus clapped his hands together and a swirling blue portal opened up several feet away from him. "You… you think it's over? HA! Your cowardice will be your ultimate demise! I shall retreat to my realms, for now… but I will return! HA HA HA! I shall return… and I shall rule this world! HA! HA!" Atticus's eyes twitched as he turned and limped toward the portal, shrieking with laughter. He suddenly bumped into something solid. He craned his neck up to see Cynder snarling at him viciously. "HA HA! Nice trick, dragon! But if you think I'm going to fall for your hallucinations…" Cynder stabbed him in the chest with her bladed tail. Atticus coughed up a load of blood, which splattered on the dragoness's underbelly. "HA ha… ha? No… impossible………"

"Goodbye." Cynder hissed as she swung her tail around. The last thing Atticus saw was Cynder's tail blade rushing up to meet his face. She impaled him straight between the eyes and then quickly pulled the blade out. Atticus crumpled to the floor in a heap. Cynder turned to face Spyro. She couldn't read his hollow eyes and his frown made her shiver. She took a step toward Spyro but was soon cut off.

"One more move, dragon, and your little girlfriend will be no more!" Dagon yelled as he grabbed Cynder in a bear hug and rested his sword against her neck. "Give up now! Just admit it was all your fault and I'll let you all go." He exclaimed. Spyro's frown quickly turned into another look of rage.

"Oh no…" Cynder knew what was coming next as Spyro unleashed yet another dark fury. This one seemed even more powerful than the last two. Dagon was lifted into the air, dropping his sword by the first waves. The second set sent his sword spiraling through the air. Cynder gasped. Spyro's friends, who had finally gotten back up the stairs, all gasped. But Dagon didn't scream. Not when he hit the wall, and not when his sword impaled him through the chest and pinned him against the wall. Instead, his face was filled with sadness. Spyro began to walk toward the mutant, glaring at him. Cynder stepped in front of him. "Spyro, snap out of it! You can't let the darkness control you again like last time. You're hurting innocent people, Spyro." She paused, but Spyro continued to glare. "You've already hurt your friends and your brother!" She screamed. Spyro turned around and saw his friends. He saw the various cuts and bruises covering their bodies. He saw Lea and Austin scoop the unconscious Sparx off the floor. His hollow eyes drooped in sadness.

"Spyro…" Spyro turned around and saw that Dagon had unattached himself from the wall. He was kneeling on the ground, the sword still stuck in him. "I saw it… in that one moment… I saw it all." He coughed up a little blood. "I saw him… Phantom… running across the cliff. It was Atticus… he tricked me… and manipulated me." Dagon erupted into a fit of coughing. Cynder went over and helped him. "I'm sorry… for what I did… but you have to listen to me. You're a great kid, Spyro… you could do… great things for the dragon race… but you can't let something stupid… as your emotions swallow you up… and control your actions. I did… and look what happened to me…" He rasped. Spyro's hollow eyes began to tear up. Suddenly, they began to fade back to normal. His dark colors slowly faded as well until he was completely back to normal. Dagon managed a weak smile. Cynder ran over to the purple dragon and playfully tackled him to the ground. Spyro's face brightened into a smile as the two dragons stood up. Spyro looked at the dark gem. It had returned to its dull gray color once again. Spyro walked over to Dagon.

"Dagon, I'm truly sorry for what I just did. Is there any way we can help you?" Dagon coughed again.

"Atticus… left the portal open. Maybe there's help in the human world. Please help me… to the portal…" Dagon started coughing again. Spyro and Cynder helped Dagon crawl to the portal. He turned to face them. "Farewell, Spyro and Cynder… perhaps our fates will cross once again…" He fell backward into the portal. In a bright flash of light, both he and the portal were gone. Spyro frowned but Cynder patted him on the shoulder.

"You just did the right thing." She whispered. Spyro nodded. The two turned and walked toward the others. Their faces brightened when they saw the two dragons okay again and they ran over to embrace Spyro and Cynder. Sparx, who was now awake, buzzed around Spyro.

"Now listen here, you and I are going to have a lot of talking to do when we get back." He folded his arms and stared at Spyro. Spyro rolled his eyes.

"Whatever you say, Sparx…" Spyro replied. The castle began to shake.

"What the…?" Ash was cut short when one of the walls had came tumbling down in front of him. "The fortress is falling apart! We got to get out of here!" He yelled as he took to the sky. The others nodded and quickly followed him, with Spyro carrying Austin. They flew toward the portal they used to enter the dark realm. Spyro turned his head and saw the Dark Master's fortress explode. The bright light of the portal quickly rushed up to greet him and they were all soon tumbling through it. Seconds later, they all crashed into the soft, grassy grounds of the ruins sight they had been at before they went into the dark realm.

"Oh thank the ancestors it's over." Cynder moaned.

**To be continued!**


	9. A Warning

**So, here's chapter 9. Again I'd like to thank Zerodius for helping me generate a few ideas for the ending. **

**Spyro and respective characters copyright Sierra, Ash is copyright Mad Guns22, Austin is copyright TMHB77, and all OCs are copyright of myself. This chapter also references some things copyright Capcom Co. and some nonfiction things.**

**Chapter 9- A Warning**

Seymour had an extravagant library filled with books. Many of them had never been touched since he put them there. But today was not a day to read one of them. Seymour was growing more restless every hour. The last video footage he looked at was of Atticus revealing his plan to become the supreme overlord of the magical realms. Seymour had nearly spilled his cup of afternoon tea as he watched the video. That wouldn't have been good. The scarlet suit, purple and red tie, and navy blue shirt he was wearing were all made by a private designer and coasted him a fortune. His purple, velvet-lined gloves were additionally his favorite, and cleaning them without damaging them in a washing machine was a long task. Seymour needed to take his mind off of the issue with his brother. _The Iliad_ was Seymour's all time favorite classic to read. He was seated in his office, pouring over the book and reaching for a plate composed of assorted cheeses and shortbread cookies. He picked out a cube of brie, examined it, and then took a small nibble. Satisfied, he continued to nibble at the cube of cheese as he turned the page. His office phone suddenly rang. He recognized the ring tone, and then waited thirty seconds. The phone rang again. Seymour marked his page and closed the book. He also set down the dessert plate. Someone had used the special phone code he had established if either Lafayette or Dr. Ivan needed to come to his office. Seymour flipped a switch and the wall behind him opened up. The hunched-over Dr. Ivan stepped in. Seymour pressed a button on his intercom.

"Danielle, hold all my calls and visitors." He turned off the phone, locked the door and went to his safe. He pulled out the dossiers he had gotten on the five dragons. He hadn't looked at them since Vulcan handed them to him. "I take it you have something important to share with me?" Dr. Ivan nodded.

"Amongst the shipment of spirit gems your brother sent was a strange book. The language definitely wasn't some sort of ancient draconic language. Although when I ran a scan, it seemed to be remarkably similar to the Latin language." Seymour crossed his left leg over his right and leaned back in his chair. He turned to face the large glass window overlooking the horizon and the sunset.

"Are you suggesting this is a piece of human writing from the lost civilizations of old?" Dr. Ivan nodded. Seymour grabbed his walking stick and stood up. Within the dragon's mouth was now a glowing blue crystal: a smaller spirit gem. "Dr. Ivan I am very well familiar of the stories associated with the times of the lost civilization. Stories of the three legendary swords, tales with devils and demons, they are all old news to me." Dr. Ivan began pacing in front of Seymour, fidgeting with the black rubber gloves on his hands.

"This is a different story! Entirely different, Herr Seymour. It concerns the dark realms of the magical world." Seymour turned around and faced Dr. Ivan. "The story talks of a time in which the dark world was… was populated! Yes… creatures, creatures inhabited it! They, they were strange creatures. Far different, yes far different, from the normal animals that had populated the world. The story tells of times in which these creatures had invaded the lost civilization, only to be pushed back and defeated every time!" Ivan paused, catching his breath. "But, but the peculiar thing, the thing which is very peculiar is the last page. The story just cuts off and the page, the page is red, RED! I did, that is to say I ran several tests on the paper, the paper which may I remind you is thousands of years old, and I managed to confirm it is blood. But the DNA, the base stuff has mutations, mutations I have never seen! Mutations abnormal for a by our standards!" Ivan stroked his chin. "With the right equipment, and the spirit gems as a power source, I can easily create powerful reproductions of these creatures!" Seymour smirked.

"My brother tried to create his own minions using his limited magical powers. That worked out poorly for him. Surely, these creatures are far superior to creatures created from a stupid book." Seymour turned to Ivan. "There are just two other things I want you to do." Seymour handed Ivan a stack of blueprints. "Behold, my technological superweapon. It is a simple computer virus, but can manifest itself in reality. It's a risky experiment, but I'm sure you could create such a program." Ivan nodded. "The second thing: look into those spirit gems. If it is possible to extract the energy out of them do so. I think that by directly fusing that energy with our DNA, we can in a sense fuse our bodies with the angelic energy of those gems. It would make us much stronger than my pathetic brother." Seymour walked over toward his small miniature bar to pour himself a glass of water, when a vortex suddenly opened up in the window behind Seymour's desk.

"Preposterous!" Ivan yelled as a black haired human went flying out of the portal and crashed into the wall. He had a sword speared through his chest. He looked at Seymour with pain filled eyes.

"Help………. Me." He rasped before his eyes shut. Seymour pressed a button and William de Clarke appeared seconds later.

"William, get this man to the medical wing. Tell all of the doctors if anyone so much as tries to do anything to his face, they will be fired and blacklisted." De Clarke nodded and spoke into a walkie-talkie. Two men dressed in gray security outfits appears with a stretcher and loaded the human on to it. Seymour finished pouring his glass of water and sipped it. He walked over to a framed picture of his brother seated on his desk. He dismantled the frame and removed the photograph. He pressed a button and his plasma screen TV appeared. Surely enough, the screen was all static. "Fool…" Seymour hissed as he tossed the photograph into a paper shredder beside his desk. "Ivan, I have one more favor. What is the status of the transfigurator?"

"Herr Vulcan completed it yesterday. We tried it out on a human test subject, a man only calling himself Riff." Ivan stared at the floor. "It was a horrible failure. We lack a way to stabilize Riff's transformation. He has been randomly switching between the form of a dragon and his human form. And he continues to pass out if he spends too long as a dragon. We've quarantined him for further research." Seymour simply smiled and stared at his walking stick.

"Try using a spirit gem fragment to control the magical energy in the dragon form. And use the special nanotech vaccine to control the body of our next test subject." Seymour handed Ivan another picture. Ivan's eyes widened.

"Herr Atticus's daughter? She is too young for such an assignment!" Seymour smirked again.

"First configure the machine to alter her to a 16 year old human, _and then_ transfigure her. The only way to get to that purple dragon is to get inside his head. And Trinity is the perfect girl for that…" He smirked.

"You've named the monster I'm about to create?"

"No, just the human half." Seymour sat down and picked up _The Iliad _once again.

* * *

Spyro hadn't been able to sleep, despite his aching muscles and bones. The images of what he'd done during the eclipse kept flashing through his mind. Finally, he had fallen asleep, only to dream of the suffering he'd caused subconsciously. His mind floated to Gaul, then to his friends and Cynder, and lastly to Dagon. His eyes snapped open. He threw the dark gem at a wall and clutched his now burnt hand in pain. They had finally made it back in the middle of the night. The guardians were overjoyed to see them all return safely, but Spyro wasn't in any mood to talk to any of them. He quickly left and headed off to his room. The door creaked open and he turned around. Lea and Cynder were standing there. "We just came to check on you." Lea whispered. "You were really upset last night. Ignitus was asking all sorts of questions about what happened." She looked away. "We didn't tell him anything about… well, yeah…" Her voice trailed off. Cynder stared at her and Lea got the message. "Right, I'm going to go help rebuild the Pool of Visions with Ash and Drake. Feel better, Spyro." Lea turned and walked away. Cynder now walked up to Spyro and sat down next to him.

"Hey." She whispered.

"Hey." Spyro repeated. Cynder bit her lip, unsure of what to say next.

"Did you sleep okay? I mean, you said you were going to sleep last night." She asked.

"No." Spyro's stern answer caused Cynder to back up a little. She frowned and stared at a wall to her left. Spyro turned around and stared at her.

"Thanks… for, you know… saving my life." Cynder whispered the last part. "Listen, can I talk with you somewhere else?" She asked. Spyro cocked an eye in confusion. "Just follow me, please." She begged. Spyro stood up and stretched. Cynder opened the door and led Spyro out the temple and up a steep hill. After a few minutes, they reached a grassy cliff top overlooking the temple and the Dragon Village. Spyro could see various dragons beginning to get up and go about their daily lives. He saw Terrador and Cyril and a few others trying to reconstruct the temple balcony. Cynder took a deep breath. "My first few weeks here, when it was just the guardians, you, me and Sparx, I used to come up here every night." She paused for a second. "Spyro you have to realize that I was trying to live with people whom I was raised to hate. I was in complete denial of all my dark powers had done. But the nightmares of the pain I had caused so many other people kept popping up. I came up here every night and thought about why I was here and why I was still alive." She turned to face him. "I thought the answer came to me one night. I didn't think any of it at the time, but after everything we've been through, I can't help but think about that one night." She paused again. "As it happened, it had stormed the entire day, and the black clouds were still lingering in the air. I began to think about storms: about their destructive potential, but also about how they were needed. The downpours brought us water, and the fierce winds destroyed old and dead wildlife so new things could grow in their place. I thought about things like that and I began to think 'what if I'm needed like that?'

"Fate is a powerful thing, Spyro. Things happen for a reason and because they need to. Look at me. I was once the queen of darkness, and everything and everyone trembled at the mention of my name. A creature like that shouldn't deserve to live, but I did. And you saved me. Don't you think that if there wasn't a reason, a reason for you or someone else to need me, that I would have met my end in Convexity?" She plucked a small flower from the ground and stared at it. "I've learned to embrace the dark powers I was given, but in a way that they would rebuild and not destroy.

"Spyro, that statue in the Dark Master's fortress, the one that looked like you, it was Malefor. I'm almost entirely certain. The inner sanctum of that fortress told me that it was not Malefor who had driven himself into insanity, but his powers. I think that statue was a warning Spyro; a warning to you. You've been blessed with the same incredible powers of the purple dragon that Malefor had. But at the same time, you have these dark powers; powers which have twice nearly consumed you. Malefor had surrendered to the darkness and suffered because of it. I think he warned you because he didn't want to see something like that happen again. Spyro, you're the strongest dragon I've ever met. If you weren't needed by the creatures that inhabit this world to protect them and give them hope, the darkness would have easily consumed you whether or not I interfered." She looked at Spyro. Tears began to fall down the purple dragon's face. "Spyro, we're in this together, you and I. We'll find a way to control your dark powers, together." She grabbed the dark gem and stared at it. "I think I've even already got a hunch as to how we can do that. So, what do you say?" She extended her paw forward. Spyro looked up, his watery eyes meeting her green ones. He grabbed her paw and Cynder pulled him to his feet. Spyro walked up to Cynder and kissed her on the lips (A/N: No, I don't really know how a dragon is really supposed to kiss, so bear with me). Had this happened three years ago, it probably would have been meaningless to Spyro. But as he kissed her a warm feeling surged through his body; whether it was the rush of hormones or just the pleasure of the moment didn't seem to concern him at the moment. After what seemed like several minutes, he broke the kiss. The black dragoness blushed and nudged him with her front paw.

"That felt… weird." She whispered. And for the first time since before this adventure began, Spyro really smiled.

"I know what you mean. It was… kind of tingly." He remarked. There was a long moment of silence as the two dragons stared at each other.

"Um, do you want to…?" Cynder began. Spyro stared at her. "I was going to say go back to the temple. We've still got a few days left before training." Spyro cocked an eye. "I forgot to tell you. What with all the new dragons, the guardians are having training classes, given to dragons based on age. Don't look so surprised. There are others besides us five. Austin says it's like school back in his world." Spyro rolled his eyes.

"And who's teaching it?" Cynder shrugged.

"Ignitus said the guardians would be rotating classes." Spyro groaned. The thought of spending an entire day with Ignitus or Terrador wasn't awful. But with Volteer or Cyril?! Spyro was going to have to savor these few days.

"What are we going to do?" Cynder smirked. "Uh oh… why do I suddenly feel like I'm Sparx and you're about to…"

* * *

Cynder tossed him into the river. Instantly, the red stains and dirt that had clouded his scales were washed off. Spyro thrashed at the surface for a second, before Cynder stepped into the water revealing it only ran up part of her leg. Spyro stood up, blushing from embarrassment. "We're going to teach you to swim. I think you'll like it better once you know how." She smiled playfully at the purple dragon, who groaned again.

"Ah. So here's where you two are." Austin and Ignitus walked out the side entrance to the temple. "We leave you alone for a few minutes and you're already stirring up some trouble, eh?" Austin smirked. "Anyway, I came to ask you guys a question. Seeing as I sort of don't have any way back to the human world, do you know of a way to get me to fit in around here a little more? I keep getting these terrified scares from the other dragons." Austin shrugged. Spyro stood up and spat a mouthful of water into Cynder's face. He whispered to Cynder who nodded.

"We do, but there's one problem. It would cause you lose your entire memory." Spyro turned to the large fire guardian. "Is there any chance you can alter a certain spell that changes dragons to humans to remove the whole 'memory loss' issue?" Ignitus thought to himself for a moment.

"Now that you mention it, I do happen to be familiar with a spell like that. Why do you ask?" Ignitus gave the two dragons a puzzled expression.

"Well…"

* * *

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Austin screamed as Cynder knocked him off the cliff and he landed in the motionless river with a giant splash.

"It looks like Atticus might have been of some use to us." Cynder remarked with a childish grin on her face. Spyro didn't pay her much mind but was instead talking to Ignitus.

"So, you're absolutely sure you don't know how to just completely get rid of the spell?" Spyro asked his mentor for the fifth time since they arrived at the cliff. Ignitus sighed.

"I'm afraid without the spell book I cannot do anything. I know other copies exist, but the only problem is I don't know where." Ignitus paused. "Which reminds me, how did you go about loosing it in the first place?" He asked.

"That was my bad. I had cornered Atticus and he threw it into a volcano." Cynder answered as she walked up to the two dragons. Next to her was a gold dragon with an ocean blue underbelly. "He used it to make some giant lava monster." She finished.

"How do I look?" Austin asked, craning his neck around to look at his hind legs and tail.

"Bright and flashy…" Spyro replied, squinting as the sun's rays bounced off Austin's scale.

"Perfect! I always wanted to be the center of attention!" He happily exclaimed.

"So how was it?" Cynder asked. Austin proceeded to shake some of the water off.

"Cold; why don't you warn me next time I'm about to jump into an ice box!" He exclaimed, shivering. Cynder just smiled.

"Come on, we'll go back to the temple and warm you up."

* * *

Back at the temple, Lea and Drake had put the finishing touches on a new Pool of Visions. They were admiring their work when Spyro, Austin, Cynder and Ignitus walked in. "Hey, who's the new dragon?" Drake asked.

"It's me, Austin!" Austin blurted in response. Drake's eyes widened.

"Austin, is that really you? How did you turn into a dragon?"

"It's a funny story. Despite Atticus dying, the charm he put on the river that transformed Dagon was still there. So we just had Ignitus modify it a little…" Cynder answered.

"…and then they shoved me off a cliff face!" Austin gave the black dragoness a sour face. Cynder giggled and rolled her eyes.

"Oh relax, will ya! You were never in any _real_ danger. You have me and Spyro there in case something went wrong."

"Pft! Yeah, that's some great help." Sparx flew into the room. "They were probably just gazing longingly into each other's eyes the entire time." He threw his hand to the side. "What's next, little purple and black hatchlings running around shooting all sort of magic out their faces? I kind of like the sound of 'Uncle Sparx,' don't you?" Sparx buzzed around in front of the two dragons.

"Sparx!" Spyro groaned. Cynder tried to refrain from blushing, but her face still turned a little red.

"Oh. See, see? I know I'm not the only one who saw that!" Sparx buzzed around the room. "The evil psycho she dragon and the mauve one! And stuck in between them is the coolest of all dudes, good old Sparxy!" He exclaimed, joyfully swinging his arm to one side.

"Yeah, a regular batch of weirdos!" Austin exclaimed.

"HEY!" The three yelled and glared at him in response.

"Kidding! Can't you take a good joke?"

"Oh, yeah, real great joke." Spyro exclaimed while Cynder faked laughing. "It was about as good as Sparx's." He remarked.

"Yeah, they're about as good as… HEY!" Sparx turned and put on a sour face for Cynder. "I can't believe it! I go to the very edge of the dark realms with you and almost get my sorry but handed back to me by my own brother and all you two have to say for yourselves is that I have a lousy sense of humor?! If I were just a few feet taller and could spew magic out of _my_ mouth it'd be goodbye Spyro, the mauve one, hello Sparx, savior of the realms! I would fly through the air and deliver my magic-shooting justice to all the people…" The dragons groaned and rolled their eyes as Sparx continued to babble on.

**The end!**

**And that, as they say, is that! I hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. Thanks to the guys who let me use their OCs in this story. Thanks to Zerodius for giving me a few creative ideas for this. And thanks to all you guys for reading it! **

**I WILL make a sequel to this story. If you would like to submit a ****DRAGON OC**** for the sequel, please do so ASAP. I plan on starting this story either in October or November. The OCs that were in this story are automatically in the sequel (PM me if you have any problems with that). **

**Once again, I hope you all enjoyed this fic, and be on the lookout for **_**The Legend of Spyro: Wrath of Legion**_**! This is King, signing off! **


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